But First Must Come the Storm
by Elodealeaf
Summary: "Before she could think of the repercussions, Callie reached out to comfort the woman. Her fingertips just barely ghosted the contour of an upper arm before the blonde took a step back, well out of Callie's reach." Callie finds herself helplessly drawn to her college professor, Dr. Robbins. Slow burn AU.
1. Chapter 1

After last week's heat wave, the cold front of mountain air was refreshing; Callie found herself getting lost in the breeze as it tousled her hair. There would be a storm soon—dark clouds were already looming in the distance—but for now, it was perfect. She couldn't think of a better way to begin the new semester. Summer was coming to an end, and soon there would be pumpkin spice lattes and brightly colored leaves.

Callie was so caught up in her daydream that she failed to notice someone standing in front of her until it was too late. She crashed headfirst into a warm body, sending the person careening forward. Callie gasped, arms flailing as she tried to catch her balance. As soon as she was steady on her feet, she rushed toward her unintentional victim. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay?"

The woman was older, with blonde waves that framed her face and tumbled down her back. Her body was rigid, one fist clenched tightly and the other grasping a coffee cup. Her eyes were squeezed shut. "Um," the woman took a deep breath, then let it out in a big sigh. "No, I'm not." Her eyes opened, and Callie found herself mesmerized by the piercing blue staring back at her.

Before she could think of the repercussions, Callie reached out to comfort the woman. Her fingertips just barely ghosted the contour of an upper arm before the blonde took a step back, well out of Callie's reach. Embarrassed, Callie let her hand drop to her side.

The woman gestured to the front of her blouse. "I have coffee all over me." Her shirt was soaked through; she had been taking a sip of her beverage when Callie walked into her. There was a smattering of wet splotches, but the majority of the wet material was at chest level; a dark stain was slowly settling into the crimson fabric of the woman's blouse. Callie blushed when she realized just how intently she had been staring and quickly looked away, not certain she could look the woman in the eye again.

The woman let out a groan, and Callie couldn't figure out if it was from pain or frustration. "Are you hurt?" Callie asked, more than a little worried. A dozen worst-case scenarios flashed through her mind, and she suddenly found herself panicking. What if the woman had third-degree burns? Would she have to call an ambulance? And better yet, how would she explain to her parents that she had to skip her first day of classes because she had to take a woman to the ER?

"I'm fine. The coffee wasn't hot enough to burn."

Callie felt the tension drain from her body. At least that was one less thing to worry about. The woman had stopped speaking, and Callie realized the blonde was waiting for her to say something. "I'm sorry about your shirt," she murmured. "I'll pay for the dry cleaning." The woman looked insulted, so Callie hastily threw in, "or another shirt. Whatever you want. I'm just really, really sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going."

The blonde narrowed her eyes and tilted her head to the side, quiet for a moment. Callie shifted her weight from one foot to the other and fiddled with the straps on her backpack. She was starting to get antsy; she didn't want to be late for her first class, but she also couldn't leave the woman. "You don't need to do that," the blonde said slowly. Callie hesitantly met her eye. "You don't have to pay for anything," the woman clarified. "Just promise me you'll be more careful, okay?"

"Are you sure? Because it really isn't a big deal. I don't have any cash on me, but I can run to an ATM. I mean, I did just ruin your shirt."

The woman shrugged. "This isn't the first time it's happened, believe it or not. I must have horrible luck." She paused, as if deciding whether or not to divulge more information. Finally, she said, "I've actually started bringing an extra shirt, just in case." Callie bit her lip to keep from grinning. She must not have done a good job, because the woman half glared at her. Seconds later, the upturn of the woman's lips hinted that Callie shouldn't take the glare too seriously. She pressed a hand into her hair, pulling a stray strand behind her ear. "I didn't catch your name." Callie raised an eyebrow, caught off guard. The woman stuck her hand out, and Callie hesitantly reached toward it, gently grasping the proffered hand. "I'm Arizona," the blonde said, giving Callie's hand a firm shake before letting go.

"I'm Callie."

"Is that short for something?" Arizona's question was innocent enough; she didn't know about the years of repressed childhood memories that only a name like _Calliope Iphegenia Torres _could cause.

"Uh, yeah." Arizona raised an eyebrow, waiting for her to respond, but Callie found she couldn't. "I'd prefer not to say," she mumbled, suddenly very aware of the students passing by. Any one of them could easily eavesdrop on their conversation. "It's embarrassing and I've always hated it."

"I can understand that. I didn't like my name for a long time." The conviction in her tone left no room for doubt. "Children can be surprisingly cruel," Arizona added thoughtfully.

Despite the topic of conversation, Callie found herself smiling. As horrible as she felt about inadvertently ruining Arizona's shirt, she didn't regret it; she rarely found somebody as easy to talk to, much less someone who understood what she went through as a child with an unusual name. She didn't want the moment to end. She opened her mouth to agree with Arizona, but instead found herself saying, "Let me buy you a cup of coffee." She felt mortified and hopeful and woozy all at once. She backtracked, hoping her word vomit hadn't ruined what could have been a great friendship. "I didn't mean it like that. I just…" she trailed off, uncertain of how to explain herself. "You won't let me pay for your shirt or your dry cleaning. The least I can do is buy you a cup of coffee." She couldn't bring herself to look at Arizona.

"I'll hold you to that." Callie glanced up in time to see Arizona glance at her watch. Her eyes widened comically, and Callie had to fight the urge to look at her cell phone to check the time. There was a big possibility she would arrive to class with only minutes to spare. "I have to go. It was nice meeting you, Callie. I'm looking forward to that cup of coffee." She took one step away, and then another.

It wasn't until Arizona was about to round the corner of the nearest building and disappear from sight that Callie realized she was missing a key detail. "I don't have a way to contact you!" she yelled, her voice startling a nearby student.

Arizona turned around, a grin on her face. "I'm sure you'll run into me again." And with that, she was out of sight.

* * *

Arizona ducked her head, trying to remain inconspicuous as she unlocked her office door. All she wanted was to change out of her ruined blouse and get to the class she would be inevitably late for. In her haste to unlock the door, she jammed the key in the lock. She grumbled and tried again, but it was too late; footsteps echoed down the hall, drawing closer with every step. With a sigh, Arizona resigned herself to a few minutes of embarrassing conversation. Seconds later, she heard a startled gasp.

"Oh my god, Arizona, what happened!" Teddy was standing only a few feet away, coffee in hand. The sight of the hot drink made Arizona flinch.

Arizona looked down, surveying the damage before responding with a dry, "I think it's pretty obvious."

Teddy smacked her arm in exasperation. "That's not what I meant and you know it."

Arizona shrugged, not certain how much she wanted to divulge. She used the locked door as an excuse to delay her answer, but it only took a few seconds of jiggling the lock for the door to pop open. Teddy was quick to follow her through it. "I didn't spill it on myself, if that's what you're asking." She set her purse on her desk and turned to look at Teddy. "Somebody walked into me."

Teddy barely managed to bite back a laugh. She settled onto the edge of the couch and watched Arizona go through her drawer of spare clothing. "I'm sorry. It shouldn't be funny, but it is."

Arizona frowned in response. "This was one of my favorite shirts." She pulled out a plain black sweater, grimaced, and shoved it back in the drawer. The weather was getting cooler, but she would be sweltering if she wore it all day.

"You could have it dry cleaned. I'm sure the stain would come right out." Teddy took a sip of her coffee as she leaned back against the couch cushions. After a moment of silence, she asked, "Did you at least make this person pay for your dry cleaning?"

"No, she offered to pay for my shirt before I could ask for anything." Arizona bit her lip, frustrated with her shirt choices; apparently the last time she stocked her drawer had been in the middle of winter. The coffee had seeped through her shirt and stained her bra, so her spare white blouse was out of the question. Arizona begrudgingly pulled out the last of her choices, a light blue oxford blouse. The long sleeves would be uncomfortable, but she could at least partially roll them up and still look professional.

"Oh, that was nice of her."

"I didn't make her pay. She was so sincere and apologetic that I almost felt like I had to apologize for inconveniencing her." Arizona ran her fingers along the cuff of the shirt, bunching the fabric in her hand for a moment before smoothing it out. "She offered to buy me coffee to make up for the one she spilled."

Teddy raised an eyebrow. "What did you say?"

"I said yes." Arizona gave a blasé shrug, trying to shake off her unease. She shouldn't have to reason with Teddy over why she accepted a cup of coffee, but she felt compelled to explain herself. "I mean, it's just coffee. It's not like it means anything." Before Teddy could respond, Arizona held up the clean shirt. "I really need to change and get to class. I'll talk to you later?"

Teddy hesitated for moment before she conceding with a brief nod. "I need to get back to my office, anyway." She stood and finished off the last of her drink, tossing the cup into the trash bin by Arizona's desk. "Good luck with your classes today."

"You too," Arizona said, her attention already focused on unbuttoning her stained blouse. As the door clicked softly into place, she released a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.

* * *

Callie pulled out her schedule, frowning in confusion as she eyed the numbers. According to the piece of paper, she'd found the correct classroom. She peered through the glass pane in the wooden door, surveying the rows of Apple desktops resting on tabletops. A few students were already signed into the computers and scrolling aimlessly through their Facebooks. The computer at the front—presumably the teacher's—was vacant. It was unusual for a professor to be this late on the first day, but Callie found herself more than a little relieved she could enter the classroom without a disapproving glance from the instructor.

The class was oddly packed; the only seat left was second to the front, close to the teacher's desk. As Callie weaved around the tables and chairs, a few heads turned in her direction. She felt her face flush at the unwanted attention and quickly averted her eyes to the floor, pretending to focus on avoiding the various backpacks strewn haphazardly about the room. By the time she made it to her seat, most of the students had lost interest; abandoned conversations were picked back up, and the noise level of the room returned to normal.

The only other person not pre-occupied with a computer or another classmate was the boy in the adjacent chair to Callie's. She gave him a small smile as she slung her backpack off and perched it against the leg of the table. He didn't smile back, but he didn't look away, either. "Are you saving this seat for somebody?" she asked. When he shook his head, she plopped herself onto the chair. She hadn't realized wheels were attached to the bottom, so when her chair began to roll away from the makeshift desk, she quickly grabbed a hold of the underside of the table. The force shook the two iMacs, and for a moment Callie thought one of them was going to fall.

The boy grabbed onto the base, steadying it. "Be careful," he groused. "These things are expensive."

"I'm sorry," Callie said, though she wasn't certain why she was apologizing to the boy. It wasn't as if he owned the computers.

He gave her a half grimace in return before he turned away, putting an elbow onto the desk and leaning his chin heavily against the palm of his hand. Callie waited a moment to see if he'd say anything, but when she was met with nothing but silence she turned away. If he didn't want to talk to her, that was fine. She'd just find someplace else to sit next class.

She busied herself with unpacking a notebook and a pen from her backpack. She flipped open the first page of the notebook and scrawled the date across the top right corner, the blue ink bright against the paper. Callie tapped her pen against the metal spirals of the notebook, fighting to stave off hadn't expected the boy to speak again, so when he did, she startled. "Dr. Robbins isn't normally late," he said. Callie couldn't tell if he was speaking to himself or actually making conversation, so she gave an unassuming nod. "Is this your first class with her?" This time she was certain the question was directed at her.

"I just finished Technical Editing and Style last semester, so this is the first time I've been able to take any of the upper level classes."

"You're only a junior?" The boy looked impressed when Callie nodded. He sat up straighter, pulling away from the desk to turn to her. "Why would you take this class now and not during your senior year?"

"I'd like to graduate early, and I wasn't sure if this class would be offered next fall semester." Callie shrugged. "Science Writing sounds like a really interesting class, and I would hate to miss it." She must have said something right, because a small grin spread across the boy's face. Callie was surprised to discover that without a scowl on his face, the boy was relatively attractive.

"I'm Alex, by the way." As an afterthought, he stuck out his hand. His grip was weak and somewhat clammy; Callie discreetly wiped her hand against her pants when he wasn't looking.

Their conversation was cut short by the sound of a door creaking open. "Sorry I'm late!" A bag clattered onto the professor's desk loudly enough to startle the room into silence. "Welcome to Science Writing. I'm Dr. Robbins."

The professor's voice sounded vaguely familiar, but Callie couldn't place it; she peered around Alex, curious to see who it was. When she saw the figure standing at the front of the classroom, she drew a sharp breath.

The quietness of the room only amplified her gasp of surprise. She felt blue eyes land on her and, for the second time that morning, she found herself unable to meet Arizona's eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

By the time Callie had gathered enough courage to look at Dr. Robbins, the professor had already moved on. She was well across the room, handing out a stack of papers. "This is your syllabus," she was saying. "Please take one and pass it on; there should be enough for everyone, but if there isn't please tell me. I know some of you haven't officially added this class yet." She paused, watching the trail of papers move from student to student. "If you are one of those people, please see me before you leave."

Callie glanced around the room in time to see a few heads nod. There weren't enough copies of the syllabus to go around; the person sitting to the left of Callie got the last one. Before she could figure out what to do, Alex raised his hand. The professor must have already been looking their way, because she noticed him immediately. Her gaze slid past Callie and focused on the person to her left, who was busy flipping through the syllabus.

"Did we run out?" Alex nodded. She turned to face the class, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Did anybody grab an extra? Sometimes the staples get caught." The room was silent. After a moment, Dr. Robbins strode to the front desk and pulled a binder out of her bag. She flipped it open and grabbed some papers from the inside pocket before walking to Alex.

"Here," she murmured. "You two can share my copy." In a voice loud enough for the class to hear, she said, "Let me pull it up online. While I log in, why don't you read it over and see if you have any questions." When Dr. Robbins turned her back on them, Alex shoved the syllabus in Callie's lap.

Callie picked up the papers and began to read through the contents. It had all the basic workings of a syllabus: an overview of the course, a breakdown of their grade and a few paragraphs dedicated to the importance of attendance. She'd just gotten to the class calendar when Dr. Robbins spoke again. "I hate to do this to you all, but I need to discuss a few things on the syllabus, just so everyone is clear. I don't want there to be any misunderstandings, so at any time please feel free to interrupt and ask questions."

Alex let out a sigh and slouched further into his seat. Callie wished she could do the same, but she didn't want to make Dr. Robbins dislike her anymore than she already did; spilling coffee on your professor was never a good way to begin the semester.

"The first thing you should know about this class is that it's very writing intensive. There's at least one writing assignment due each week, whether it's a journal response or an essay. Sometimes you will have multiple assignments due." There were a few groans. "If any of you have a problem with this, you're more than welcome to drop the class."

"There are three papers due throughout the semester; each one is worth fifteen percent of your grade. You will also have a final paper, which is twenty-five percent of your grade. Because these are such huge portions of your grade, I've put time into our schedule so I can meet with each of you individually to discuss your rough drafts before you turn in your final draft. We'll go over this in greater detail later, but for now just keep it in the back of your mind. Are there any questions?"

A girl raised her hand. "Will we also have a final exam?"

"No, just the final paper. It will be due on our scheduled exam date, whenever that may be. Any other questions?" The professor glanced about the room. "Let's move on to the topic of attendance, then. I know you've all heard the spiel from multiple professors at this point, but it really is important that you come to class. Studies have shown that students who come to class get better grades. That being said, I do understand that sometimes situations arise that we can't control. You are allowed to miss three days of class, but any more than that and your grade will suffer."

Dr. Robbins reached back into her binder and pulled out another piece of paper. "Speaking of, I still need to take attendance. I looked at all of your student pictures, but I have to say almost none of you look the same as you did freshman year." She glanced down, her eyes skimming the names. "It will take me a few weeks to learn everyone's name, so please be patient."

Callie's heart began to race; she swallowed hard, trying to get a hold of herself. She had managed to avoid telling Dr. Robbins her full name, but now that the professor had a class roster she would know everything, her middle name included. She clenched the syllabus tightly in her hand, the bottom edges of the paper crinkling from the pressure. Any lingering dignity Callie had was swept away the knowledge that Dr. Robbins had seen her student picture.

It was a well-known fact that nobody looked good in their picture, but that didn't make Callie feel any better. Part of their orientation consisted of sleeping in a dorm room without air conditioning in the middle of July. The pictures were taken early the next morning; Callie had barely gotten any sleep the night before, and her hair was an absolute wreck.

"When I call your name, please tell me a little bit about yourself—your year and major, and why you're taking this class."

Dr. Robbins started roll at the top of the list, calling out, "Jackson Avery?"

"Here." A boy toward the back of the room raised his hand. He was on the opposite side of the room, so the rows of computers blocked Callie's view, but that didn't stop Alex from attempting to see. He leaned close to Callie, his arm just barely brushing against hers. She shifted in her chair, giving Alex more room.

Dr. Robbins smiled at the boy and gestured for him to continue. "I'm a senior professional writing major."

"And why did you sign up for this class?"

"It's a requirement," the boy admitted, his voice slightly higher than before.

Dr. Robbins shrugged. "It's okay to take it as a requirement. I wasn't expecting all of you to sign up for this class out of your love for the subject matter. All I can ask is that you keep an open mind. Maybe you'll find you actually love it." She looked at Alex when she said this, a grin on her face. He gave her a small smile in return. "Okay, who's next?" She glanced back down at the roster. "Heather Brooks?"

As the professor moved down the list, Callie found herself growing increasingly nervous. She had already resigned herself to the fact that the professor knew her full name; there was nothing she could do about that. But Dr. Robbins had been reading their names aloud and then asking for each student to give their preferred nickname. The class would hear her given name. It wasn't as if her classmates would tease her for it, but them knowing it was enough to make her uncomfortable.

The professor had been focused on the other side of the classroom, but her attention shifted and all of a sudden she was focused entirely on Callie. Blue eyes met hers, and for a moment the room was silent. The professor squinted down at her paper, and then back up at Callie. Callie gulped and prepared herself for the worst.

"Callie Torres?"

Callie could barely hear Dr. Robbins over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears. She wasn't entirely sure she believed what had happened. Slowly, she raised her hand. "Here," she said so quietly she wasn't sure that even had Alex heard her. The blonde looked at her, and Callie realized she was expected to say more. She glanced about the classroom and realized that several pairs of eyes were on her. She had been so caught up worrying about her name that she had forgotten just how much she loathed speaking in front of an audience. "I'm a junior," she choked out. Her voice shook and she felt herself immediately flush. "I thought this class looked interesting, so I signed up."

Dr. Robbins smiled at her; Callie couldn't tell if it was out of pity or if the professor was simply being polite. "What's your major?" she asked. It was supposed to be a gentle reminder, but Callie felt even more embarrassed that she forgot to mention it.

"Professional writing."

The professor nodded and, after a moment, turned her attention back to the roster. There were only a few more students after Callie, so it didn't take long until they were finished. Dr. Robbins placed the roster back into her binder and glanced at the clock, quickly taking in the time. Callie followed her line of sight. It was just after ten, but the class wasn't supposed to finish until 10:45. Generally the first day of class didn't take up the allotted time block, so Callie wasn't surprised when Dr. Robbins said, "I'll let you go early. We'll go over the basics of Science Writing next class. Don't forget to look over your class calendar! There's a reading due on Wednesday. Part of the lecture is based on it, so I'll expect you to have read it. Good luck with the rest of your classes."

A cacophony of sounds broke out; some students picked up their previously abandoned conversations while others packed up their items and left the room. Callie remained in her seat, wondering what to do with the syllabus she'd been given. If it was the professor's personal copy, she needed to give it back. She considered giving it to Alex to deal with, but the boy was already completely packed up and headed toward the door.

A few students had gathered at the front of the classroom to talk to Dr. Robbins. Callie pulled out her phone and pretended to answer a few text messages, buying herself some time. She didn't necessarily want to be alone with the professor, but she didn't want an audience, either. But she had severely underestimated the time it would take Dr. Robbins to speak with each student; before Callie had time to come up with a plan, she was the only one remaining. The professor hadn't spotted her yet, so she briefly considered leaving and giving her the syllabus on Wednesday.

But as soon as the door shut behind the last student, Dr. Robbins turned in her direction. The professor's brow furrowed when she spotted her. "Callie, what are you still doing here? Is everything alright?"

Callie grabbed her backpack from the floor and stood up. "I wanted to give you back your syllabus," she explained, walking closer to the professor. "I wasn't sure if you needed it for another class." The moment the words left her tongue she felt ridiculous; she could have left the syllabus next to the professor's bag, but something had compelled her to stay.

"That was kind of you, but you really didn't have to do that. I can print off another copy."

"Are you sure?"

Dr. Robbins nodded. "Of course. Keep it, please." Callie watched in fascination as the professor's face lit up with a playful smile. She hadn't noticed her dimples before, but now it was all she could focus on. "After all, how else would you know what to read?" The professor's grin quickly faded, and Callie felt herself tense at the sudden change. Dr. Robbins spoke again, but this time her voice was quiet and more serious than Callie had ever heard it. "For the record, I think you have a very pretty name. It's not something to be ashamed of."

Callie opened her mouth to respond but quickly shut it, at a loss for words. An awkward silence enshrouded the room as Dr. Robbins waited for a response that Callie couldn't give.

The door handle jostled loudly as someone tried to enter the room; both women were startled, and the moment was broken. "I'll get it," Callie said, rushing toward the exit. She couldn't bring herself to look back.


	3. Chapter 3

Drops of rain fell against the window, coalescing into miniature rivers that raced sideways across the glass. Wind tore at the tops of the trees, snagging green leaves from branches and whipping them to the ground a dozen yards away. Arizona leaned against the cool metal railing of the indoor balcony, watching the storm. Lightning flashed in the distance and thunder followed shortly after, a low rumbling sound that echoed through the building.

"Dr. Robbins."

Arizona spun around, looking for the source of the voice. The head of the English department, Richard Webber, stood a few feet away. "Dr. Webber! What can I do for you?"

"Are you free to talk in my office? There are a few things I'd like to discuss with you."

Arizona nodded and forced herself to smile. "Of course." She couldn't think of anything she'd done recently that merited a private conversation with the department head, but she was nervous nonetheless. Dr. Webber was an imposing figure no matter what.

They fell into a companionable silence as they walked toward his office. There were several students studying in the building; a few of them glanced up curiously as the two professors walked by. Arizona waved at one of her old students, trying her best to remain nonchalant.

She had only been to Dr. Webber's office once, during her job interview. The faculty offices were a maze in and of itself, so Arizona wasn't surprised when she didn't recognize the direction they were headed. By the time they arrived at his office, she was completely lost. Dr. Webber took no notice of it, seemingly oblivious to her anxiousglances down the hallway. "Here we are," he said, unlocking a door and ushering her inside. "Please, take a seat."

Arizona lowered herself into one of the chairs facing his desk, sitting stiffly against the backrest. She crossed her legs and then uncrossed them, choosing instead to bounce her knee up and down to release the nervous energy boiling inside her. Although it probably didn't take very long, it felt like minutes had passed by the time Dr. Webber settled into the chair across from her.

"Dr. Robbins," he began, leaning his elbows on the desk and steepling his fingers. "This will be your second year with us, correct?" She nodded, uncertain of where he was going with his statement. "I've heard a lot of great things about you lately. Quite a few senior professors have mentioned how impressed they were with your teaching methods. You've brought quite a lot to this university in such a short time."

Arizona flushed. "Thank you, Dr. Webber. I really appreciate that. I've put a lot of time into preparing for my courses."

"And it shows," he agreed. "Student evaluations for your courses are overwhelmingly positive." He paused, considering his next statement carefully. Without the sound of their voices, she was able to hear the storm raging outside. Branches scraped across the building whenever a particularly strong gust of wind caught against them. The crack of thunder resonated through the walls, and the lights flickered for a moment before staying on. "I'm going to share something with you that I trust you will keep confidential."

"Of course." She sat up straighter in her seat, unconsciously leaning forward as she tried to hear his words.

"One of our tenured professors is retiring—Dr. Stark. As you know, he primarily teaches graduate classes for our science writing department." He leaned back in his chair, studying Arizona closely. "I believe you would make a great permanent addition to our team." She opened her mouth to thank him, but he held up a hand to silence her. "I'm not saying you have the job, Dr. Robbins, but you're definitely being considered for it. Dr. Stark won't be retiring until the end of spring semester, so there is plenty of time for you to pull yourself ahead of the competition."

"Thank you, sir. I really appreciate this opportunity. I'll do whatever it takes to get this position."

"Dr. Altman mentioned that you were working on a book?"

"I'm researching for it, yes."

"Good, that's exactly what I wanted to hear. Having a book published in your field of expertise is a huge accomplishment, one our school does not take lightly." He gave her a meaningful look. She swallowed hard, understanding his implication. "And remember, if you need any help with your research, I'm sure there are plenty of students willing to assist you."

Arizona nodded. Alex would be able to help her; he could count it as independent research and receive credit hours for it. He might not be too happy about it, but she knew it would get him out of a class he'd been complaining about earlier. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind," she said. "It would definitely help."

"That's good to hear." He began to stand, so Arizona quickly followed suit. He stuck out his hand and Arizona took it immediately. His handshake was strong; she managed to hide her wince by clearing her throat. "Be safe driving through this storm, Dr. Robbins." It was a clear dismissal, one she took without hesitation.

She left his office with a mixture of emotions. It was a relief to know that Dr. Webber thought so highly of her; she hadn't been too concerned about that—she was good at her job—but it was always nice to hear. But because of his praise, there was now a pressure placed on her to succeed, and whether that pressure was self-inflicted or not, it didn't matter: her research that had been a hobby up until that point was about to become a full-fledged book, whether she liked it or not.

* * *

Callie took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for the run from her car to the inside of her apartment. There was so much rain that the gutters were overflowing; water was pouring off the side of the roof in cascading steams. A small waterfall had formed at the entrance to the building; she resigned herself to the fact that she would never make it inside dry. She threw open her car door and launched herself into the rain, haphazardly kicking the door shut behind her.

She took off at a sprint, wincing as droplets of rain wet her face and hair; she hadn't expected it to be so cold. By the time she reached the entrance, her hair was plastered to her face and neck. The heat of the building provided a stark contrast to the weather outside.

As she turned the lock, she heard the sounds of a video game. Mark sat on the couch, an Xbox controller in his hand. He glanced at her for a brief moment before turning back to the screen. "Hey, Callie!" As she shut and locked the door, he did a double take. "Woah, you look soaked."

She rubbed water from her brow and gave a small laugh. "Yeah, have you seen outside?"

He gave her a sheepish smile. "No class today, remember? I only have labs on Monday and they don't start until next week."

"I sort of hate you for that," she joked as she slipped off her shoes and tossed her backpack on the tiled floor. "I'm going to change. What are we doing for dinner?"

Mark was already reabsorbed in his game. "I ordered pizza," he said, never taking his eyes off the screen. "It's in the fridge."

Callie frowned. "You didn't make somebody deliver us pizza in the rain, did you?"

"It's their job!" She let out a huff so he added, "Would you rather we didn't have pizza?"

"No, I guess not," she conceded. "I'll be right back." She trudged down the hallway, dripping water onto the carpet as she went. Boxes still scattered the floor in her room; she had only moved in a few days before classes started and hadn't gotten around to unpacking all of her things. She skirted around the boxes, making her way to the closet and pulling out a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt. Though the apartment was warm, the wet clothing chilled her; she quickly grabbed a hoodie and pulled it on along with the rest of the dry clothes. She threw her wet clothing on top of the door to dry and returned to the living room.

"Do you want any pizza?" she asked. "I'm going to warm it up." Mark shook his head no. When Callie pulled the box out of the refrigerator, she realized it was still completely full; Mark had waited for her so they could eat together. She grabbed a plate from the cabinet and placed two slices on it, one for her and one for Mark. As the microwave heated the food, she busied herself in the kitchen, placing dirty dishes inside the dishwasher. When the microwave timer went off, she grabbed the plate and a beer from the fridge.

By the time she sat down, Mark had finished the round of whatever game he was playing. The television was off and the controller was plugged into its charger. He turned to her and smiled. "So, how was your day?"

Callie took a bite of her pizza, chewing slowly as she contemplated what to say. "As good as the first day of the semester can be, I guess." She shrugged. "I basically sat there and listened to professors talk about their syllabuses for three hours today. At least they let us leave early."

"That sounds horrible." When she looked away from the plate to open the can of beer, he stole the other slice of pizza. Callie gave him a playful glare. "Did you make any new friends?" he asked, chomping down on the pizza. He let out a gasp, dropping the slice back on the plate and sucking in air to cool his mouth. "That's hot!"

"Yeah well, you should have thought of that before you stole my food." She took a sip of her drink. "What is this, anyway? You sound like my parents. I don't remember agreeing to a round of twenty questions about my day."

"First of all, I can't believe you just compared me to your parents." He feigned a hurt expression. "And besides, aren't I supposed to ask you about your day? I think it was part of our roommate agreement when we signed the lease. I'm supposed to care about your wellbeing."

Callie rolled her eyes, but answered his question nonetheless. "I talked to a guy in Science Writing, but he was kind of a jerk."

"Was he at least hot?"

Callie made a face. "Gross, Mark." She finished her pizza and chugged the remainder of her beer before she settled further onto the couch. "It's not like we had that much time to talk, anyway. Once the professor came in I was too busy feeling mortified to care about making new friends." Mark looked impossibly confused; it took Callie a moment to realize that she hadn't told him about her embarrassing moment. She backtracked, trying to explain what had happened. "I was walking to class and I wasn't paying attention, I guess. I walked straight into somebody and made them spill their coffee. It turns out that person is my Science Writing professor, but of course I didn't know that until she walked into the classroom."

"Hold up, you spilled coffee on your professor?"

Callie felt her face heat up. "Technically, all I did was walk into my professor. She just happened to be drinking her coffee at that time." Mark started to laugh. "It's not funny! It completely ruined her shirt. I felt so bad."

"Come on Torres, admit it's funny!" She shook her head; it was still too soon to find the humor in it. "What did you do?"

"I offered to pay for her dry cleaning, but she looked super mad so I thought she might have been insulted that I asked." She didn't think her face could get any redder. "So I offered to pay for her shirt." Mark barely held back a chuckle. She glared at him.

He held his hands up in a placating gesture. "Okay, it's not funny. I won't laugh anymore, I promise." He got up from the couch and went into the kitchen; Callie heard the fridge open and shut. "So, what did she do?" he asked, his voice muffled from the distance.

"Nothing, she brushed it off completely. She wouldn't let me pay for anything, either. She just told me it wasn't the first time it happened and made a joke out of it." Mark came back into the room with a drink in one hand and a slice of pizza in the other. "And then she told me her name was Arizona."

"Don't you think it's a little weird that she introduced herself by her first name?"

Callie shrugged. "I don't know, I hadn't really thought about it." But now that Mark pointed out how unusual that was, she couldn't help but wonder why the professor had done so. It had been obvious that Callie was a student; she'd been wearing her backpack, after all. And why had Dr. Robbins accept her offer for coffee? "Maybe she's just like that out of class," she finally said. It was a shoddy explanation, one that she didn't entirely believe, but it seemed to settle Mark's curiosity.

"Yeah, that could be true," he agreed. "One of my professor's last year had us call him by his first name." He rose from the couch once more, grabbing Callie's dish and bringing it into the kitchen. "I have to go study. My biochem professor is giving us a quiz tomorrow on amino acids. Apparently it's his way of welcoming us to the new semester. I'll see you in a few hours?"

"Sure. I have some homework I need to do, too, but I'll be out here." She waited until his door clicked shut before she got up and grabbed her backpack. Water had seeped through the cloth and gotten the tops of her notebooks wet. She set them on the floor next to her backpack, opening them so they could dry out.

Her Science Writing syllabus had taken the brunt of the rain. She had forgotten to put it in a folder, so it had absorbed most of the water. The ink was smeared and blurry; Callie delicately flipped the pages until she got to the course calendar. She planned to be as prepared for Wednesday as possible.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: A little bit longer chapter for you guys as thanks for all the great reviews/follows. Enjoy, and please let me know what you think!

* * *

Callie leaned against the metal balcony, casually checking her phone to waste time. She hadn't realized how early she was when she left the apartment this morning; she had assumed she was running late, so she had rushed to class. But now she was twenty minutes early, and the door was locked. She had been too distracted before to notice the piece of paper taped to the door that read, "Please keep this door locked at all times." Even though she wasn't happy about waiting outside her classroom, she had to admit it made sense that the school was worried about security. There were over twenty iMacs in the room, each well over a thousand dollars. It would be crazy not to lock the room.

The staccato sound of stilettos echoed in the atrium of the building, drawing nearer with each step. Callie finished a text to Mark and looked up, hoping whoever it was would let her into the room. Considering how long it took Dr. Robbins to get to class on Monday, the professor was the last person she expected to see. But there she was, rapidly approaching Callie.

Callie slipped her phone in her pocket, trying her best to at least look casual. There was no reason to be nervous, but she could already feel her pulse quicken. Dr. Robbins came to a halt a few feet from Callie, who couldn't help but give her a once over as the professor searched for something in her purse.

Dr. Robbins was wearing a pencil skirt and a white blouse that hugged her form. She had three buttons of her shirt undone, showing off a subtle hint of cleavage. As the professor found whatever she was looking for and retracted her arm from her purse, Callie caught a flash of her bra. She swallowed thickly and looked away. Was the building always this warm?

"Hi, Callie," the professor greeted, "how was your Tuesday?" She was holding a slip of paper with numbers scrawled across the middle, but Callie was too far away to make any of them out.

"It was fine," Callie said automatically. Dr. Robbins looked mildly concerned, so Callie hastily changed her answer before the professor could ask her why it hadn't been better. "I meant great. My day was great. In fact, I'm really looking forward to all of my classes this semester."

Dr. Robbins looked doubtful for a moment, but didn't say anything on the matter. Instead, she asked, "What else are you taking?"

"Today? Or in general?" The minute the words came out of her mouth, Callie felt ridiculous. Of course she would want to know her whole schedule, not just the other classes she had on Mondays and Wednesdays. She waited for Dr. Robbins to give her a judgmental look, but there was only amusement written on the professor's face.

"Today. I need to know who my competition for best teacher is." Dr. Robbins smiled and it took Callie a moment to realize the professor was teasing her. "In general, of course," she clarified.

Callie recited the list from memory. "I'm taking Writing for the Web, Literature and Ecology, Language and Society, and British Literature."

"Are you taking Literature and Ecology with Dr. Altman?" Callie nodded. "Awesome! Dr. Altman is a great teacher. I think you'll really like her class."

"She seems good so far," Callie said. Dr. Altman hadn't done anything more than read the syllabus word for word, but Callie didn't want to disagree with Dr. Robbins. She didn't want to say anything bad about Dr. Altman in case the two professors were friends.

Dr. Robbins checked her watch. "We're a little early, but why don't we go into the classroom?" She didn't wait for an answer, just walked toward the door. She clutched the paper in front of her, reading the numbers as she entered the code into the door's keypad lock. It opened with a beep, and Dr. Robbins pushed the door open.

She turned to Callie and gestured for her to enter. Callie hesitated for only moment before she walked into the room, treading so closely to Dr. Robbins that she caught a faint scent of flowers that must have been the woman's perfume.

She briefly considered choosing a different chair, far away from Alex. It would be the smarter choice, after all; she would much rather sit next to somebody pleasant. But then Dr. Robbins was breezing past Callie to set her things on the desk at the front of the room, and Callie realized that if she sat anywhere else she'd be farther away from the professor. She begrudgingly took the second seat in, knowing full well that Alex would complain if his seat were taken.

Callie looked at Dr. Robbins, hoping they would continue the conversation they started out in the hallway, but the professor was busy setting up her laptop. Callie unzipped her backpack and pulled out her binder and a marked up copy of the reading she had printed out Monday night. She couldn't think of anything else to do, so she found herself flipping through the reading once more, re-familiarizing herself with the concepts it introduced.

She most have looked way more into it then she was, because a soft voice asked, "Mind if I interrupt?" Dr. Robbins was standing next to Alex's chair, one of her hands placed casually against the back of it.

"No, not at all." She held up the reading, showing the professor her highlighter marks and scribbled notes. "I finished the reading on Monday, I was just looking it over."

"I'm glad you came prepared!" The professor's smile was contagious; Callie found herself unconsciously mirroring the expression. Dr. Robbins faltered for a moment, as if deciding what to do. She must have come to a decision, because moments later she was pulling Alex's chair out and sitting down. Callie's eyes flicked down—their knees were mere inches away from touching—then back up to the professor's face. "What did you think of the reading?"

"Oh, it was good."

"Good!" Dr. Robbins repeated the word in a perkier tone than Callie could ever manage. "I know I didn't talk a whole lot about science writing last class, but I hoped that the article would clear up any confusion before I gave a lecture on it."

"I think it gave a great overview to the class," Callie said. "I'm sure there's a lot more to it than what the article mentioned, but at least I now know a little bit about it if somebody asks."

"Yes, exactly. I'm glad that's what you got from it." Dr. Robbins absentmindedly pushed loose strands of hair behind her ear before she folded her hands in her lap. "I, um," she bit her lip, clearly uncomfortable. "I have a favor to ask."

Callie fought hard to keep an incredulous look off her face. She couldn't think of a single reason why Dr. Robbins would need a favor from her, unless it had something to do with what happened Monday, when Callie had basically asked her out for coffee and the professor said yes. That information was definitely something Dr. Robbins would want to keep quiet. What if the professor thought she had already told all her friends about it and—

"Callie, are you okay? I can see that you're uncomfortable. It wasn't my intention to make you feel that way; I'm sorry. I'll just ask one of the other students." The professor looked disappointed. She made a move to stand, but Callie quickly spoke.

"No! I'm fine, I promise." She gave Dr. Robbins a forced smile to show her just how fine she was. The professor must have bought it, because she settled back into the chair. If Dr. Robbins was willing to ask another student for the favor, then it couldn't be about Monday's events. "What would you like me to do?"

The professor studied her for a moment. "Do you know Alex Karev? He sat in this chair last class." Callie gave a slow nod, uncertain where Dr. Robbins was going. "He's a Science Writing graduate student, and my T.A. for this class. I know his personality can be abrasive at times, but underneath that tough exterior he's really a nice guy." Dr. Robbins paused, drawing a deep breath. "Anyway, this is his first time as a T.A. and I really want him to get a feel for how I teach the class. Before I give a lecture on the reading, we're going to have small group discussions. I was hoping that you could partner up with him."

Callie froze, uncertain of what to say. She considered refusing the request. After all, she was only sitting next to him so she could be closer to the professor. Alex's personality was atrocious and she wanted nothing to do with him. But the longer she debated her answer, the worse she felt for saying no. It wasn't like this arrangement would be permanent; surely they would have opportunities to work in other groups. And if Dr. Robbins was worried enough about him to ask Callie to be his partner, then she could tough it out for one class.

"Yeah," Callie murmured, "of course I can partner with him." She tried to ignore the sinking feeling in her chest and focus on Dr. Robbins instead. The professor grinned at her, clearly relieved.

"Thank you, Callie. You don't know how much I appreciate this."

Callie gave a small shrug, trying to brush off how much the words affected her. "It's no problem, really."

Footsteps at the door surprised both of them. Dr. Robbins swiveled in the chair, turning away from Callie so she could stand up. The professor didn't turn back as she made her way to the front of the classroom, and for a brief moment Callie wondered if their actions had looked suspicious. They had been sitting awfully close to one another.

Callie opened the article to the second page once more. If Alex was specializing in Science Writing, she didn't want to come across as an idiot during their discussion. They were also well within the earshot of the professor, so anything she said could potentially be overheard by Dr. Robbins. And she definitely didn't want to sound like an idiot to Dr. Robbins.

The professor stood by the whiteboard, leaning on it every so slightly. As each student came into the room, she greeted them with a cheerful 'good morning' and asked about their day. Alex was one of the last to show up. He came in with three minutes to spare, speeding by Dr. Robbins and tossing his backpack on the floor. "Alex!" The boy turned toward the professor. Callie half expected Alex to glare at the professor, but much to her surprise he looked a little sheepish.

"Hey," he greeted. "Sorry I was running late."

She waved him off. "It's fine. But I do need to speak with you later." He raised an eyebrow. "It's not about your tardiness. You'll like it, I promise."

He nodded but didn't say anything else, instead turning around to get a pen and paper out of his backpack. Dr. Robbins had already moved on to greet the next student.

By the time the clock hit 9:30, the room was packed. Although Dr. Robbins had encouraged students to drop the class if they weren't up for the workload, it seemed as if everyone stayed, and even more students had joined.

Dr. Robbins cleared her throat and pushed away from the whiteboard, standing up straight. Conversations stopped and all eyes turned to her. "I hope everyone is having a great Wednesday. I know our class is a little early in the morning, but it looks like you're all happy to be here!" A few students rolled their eyes, but nobody said anything about the professor's cheerful attitude. "I see some new faces. For those of you who just added this class, please see me before you leave so I can catch you up and give you a syllabus."

She turned around and picked up a green dry erase marker, scrawling the name of the article across the board. Her handwriting was a little lopsided and borderline unintelligible; the letters meshed together in a way that made Callie squint to even begin to understand it. Dr. Robbins capped the pen and turned around, gesturing to the writing. "I asked everyone to read this article for homework. It doesn't go into too much depth about science writing, but I think it's a good introduction to the subject. As you know, science writing isn't what it sounds—it doesn't consist of lab reports or scientific journals. There's a very specific purpose to it." She paused for effect, then asked, "Can anybody tell me what that purpose is?"

The room was silent. Callie found herself glancing around, curious to see who would respond to the question. The answer was obvious; anyone who had read the article should have figured it out. It hadn't been explicitly stated—the article was mostly fluff—but Callie had quickly understood what it was.

As the silence dragged on, Callie shifted in her seat, contemplating raising her hand. Dr. Robbins was frustrated by now; most students were looking at their papers, avoiding the professor's gaze. "Did anybody read the article?" Alex raised his hand, but Dr. Robbins shot him a look and he hastily put his hand down. "Surely my T.A. was not the only person to read this."

Dr. Robbins cast a glance at her, and Callie felt a sense of dread fall over her. The professor had seen her marked up copy; she knew Callie had read the article extensively. But the professor didn't call on her, not right away. Instead she looked at Callie with a questioning gaze.

Callie met her eye and held it, hoping that Dr. Robbins would know that she knew the answer. It didn't necessarily mean she wanted to speak in front of an audience, but she didn't want the professor to think that she was just as oblivious as the rest of the class, either. But she had kept eye contact for a moment too long. A number of eyes were on her by the time the professor asked, "Callie, what do you think the purpose of science writing is?"

"To bring science to the people," Callie said. The calmness of her voice surprised her; she wasn't sure how she sounded so confident when her hands were shaking and her pulse was racing.

Dr. Robbins nodded. "You're absolutely correct. That's exactly what science writing does." Most of the students had turned back to the professor, but Callie felt a few lingering glances. She stared straight ahead, trying her best to ignore them; she couldn't tell if they were stares of admiration or dislike, but with Dr. Robbins praising her answer so highly, she guessed it was probably the latter. Either way, she didn't dare look to see who they were.

"I was hoping to put you all into groups of two so you could answer some questions about the reading, but since it sounds like more than half of you didn't do it, I'm starting to doubt that was a wise choice. Arrange yourselves in groups of two or three depending on how comfortable you feel about the article. I'll write some questions on the board for you to answer, and then we can reconvene toward the end of class and I'll give a short lecture." Dr. Robbins turned to write the questions; Callie watched intently, hoping that if she saw the professor scribble out the questions, she would somehow be able to decipher the writing. It didn't help.

She turned to Alex, remembering what Dr. Robbins had tasked her with. For a second she thought he might have already found somebody else to work with, but he was looking patiently at her. "Want to work together?" He must have seen her squinting, because he gestured to the board and said, "I can understand her writing."

For as much as she thought she disliked Alex, she couldn't help but feel touched at his kind offer. She nodded eagerly. Perhaps she had judged the boy too soon—maybe Dr. Robbins was right about his tough exterior. True to his word, he was able to understand each question. Callie was more than impressed; half the words didn't even remotely look like their scribbled counterparts. It was clear that the other groups were struggling. Callie knew there were a few students listening in on their conversation for the answers, but she was too intrigued by Alex to care.

He always gave her a chance to answer the question first before throwing in his opinion. A lot of the questions were easily found by referring to the text, but Alex always threw in outside examples. She learned more listening to him than she had reading the article. When Dr. Robbins called for them to re-group, Callie was oddly disappointed. Though the professor had asked Callie to partner with Alex merely as a favor, she found that it had been just as beneficial to her, if not more so.

The rest of the class passed by quickly. Their small group discussions had taken up the majority of their time, and Dr. Robbins only had ten minutes to quickly give an overview of the article. When she dismissed everyone, Callie half expected Alex to rush out like he had on Monday, but he stayed in his seat, waiting for Dr. Robbins to finish speaking with the other students.

As Callie stood to leave, Alex said, "Hey, thanks for partnering up with me today. I don't think I could have handled working with somebody who didn't do the reading."

Callie smiled. "No, thank you! I definitely learned a lot."

"Arizona and I are going to grab lunch later. Do you want to come with us? We're going to Au Bon Pan."

It took Callie a moment to realize Alex was referring to Dr. Robbins. She didn't know what to say; it was such an odd concept to her. She knew the university encouraged professors and students to meet for lunch—there was a budget for it, even—but with Dr. Robbins it seemed oddly more personal than just forming professional connections. And even if she wanted to go, she had another class to attend. She gave him an apologetic look and shrugged. "I have a class until 12:15, sorry."

Alex looked at her like she'd grown an extra head. "We're not getting lunch now. It isn't even eleven." He stood up and grabbed his backpack, tossing it over one shoulder. "I'm don't have another class until two, and I'm pretty sure Arizona is free until 3:30, so we could meet at 12:30?" Callie held back a groan. She wasn't sure why he was so determined for her to go with them, but the more he pushed her the harder it was for her to say no.

Callie opened her mouth to protest, but she couldn't come up another excuse. "Are you sure Dr. Robbins wouldn't mind? I don't want to crash your party."

Alex shook his head. "Of course not! She loves talking to her students."

Callie glanced toward Dr. Robbins, as if to confirm what Alex said. The professor was listening intently to a student, nodding along to whatever the girl was saying. Callie realized just how stupid she was acting; Dr. Robbins had quickly become her favorite professor, and Alex was offering her a way to spend more time with the woman. It seemed like a no brainer. So why was she even considering turning down his offer? "I guess so," she murmured, finally giving in. "12:30, right?"


	5. Chapter 5

AN: Longest chapter yet. Enjoy, and thanks for all the reviews/comments so far!

* * *

The dining hall was packed. Arizona hoped that Alex had kept his promise and arrived early to get a table, because she knew for a fact they wouldn't be able to get one now. She weaved her way through the overcrowded tables, on more than one occasion just barely avoiding a collision with a student. She considered pulling out her phone to text Alex, but the room was so loud she doubted he'd be able to hear it. It took her a few minutes, but she managed to spot him in the corner of the room. He was sitting by himself at a four-person table. By the sour expression on his face, Arizona could tell that he had been constantly bombarded with requests to give up his spot.

She plopped down across from him, setting her purse on the chair next to her. "This table is a little big for the two of us, don't you think?"

Alex shrugged. "It was the only one available. I underestimated just how much time it would take to get here from halfway across campus. By the time I got here, everybody had gotten out of class."

Alex glanced toward the door, and for a moment it seemed like he was looking for someone. But then he turned back to her and asked, "What did you want to talk about?" Arizona watched to see if he would look back at the door, but he was completely focused on her.

She drew a breath, trying to figure out the best way to tell him. Dr. Webber had asked that she keep the job opening quiet, so she couldn't just come out and say that Dr. Stark was retiring next year. She knew that Alex would never betray her trust, but while they were in such a public place she couldn't go spreading faculty news like it was gossip. "I don't think I've ever told you this, but for the past couple of years I've been researching on and off for a book about the effects of pollution on the Appalachian Mountains. I spoke with Dr. Webber the other day, and he encouraged me to finish up my research and begin writing."

"That's great news!" She must not have been very subtle about the panic she felt, because Alex quickly dialed back his enthusiasm. "That is great, right?"

Arizona shrugged, uncertain how much was appropriate to share with Alex. While he was working on his master's degree, he was still her student. "I feel a little out of my comfort zone. I'm sure Dr. Webber expects it to be amazing. After all, that's what we're supposed to do at a research institute: write about our research."

Alex gave her a sympathetic nod. "Why you chose to teach here is beyond me. I mean, why didn't you go to someplace like Hawaii? They have a great Science Writing program over there."

Arizona didn't say anything. "How much research do you still have to do? If you've been working on it for years, then there shouldn't be too much left, right?"

"Quite a bit, actually. When I said I had been working on and off on it, I meant it. I haven't done research in months. There's more than enough work for two people."

For a moment, Alex looked confused. "Don't joke with me, Robbins," he finally said, pointing a finger at her. "Don't you dare give me false hope."

"I'm not!" Arizona held her hands up in a placating gesture. "If you're up for the job, Alex, it's yours."

Alex remained serious, but the corners of his mouth kept twitching like he was holding back a smile. "If I say yes, does it mean that I can drop Dr. Stark's class?"

Arizona laughed. "We'll have to speak with Dr. Webber first, of course, but I don't see why you can't complete an Independent Study instead of his class. I think it would be more beneficial for you to actually work on a piece of science writing than talk about the theory behind it for an entire semester." Alex nodded his agreement. "But that doesn't mean you can slack off. We need to start this weekend. I was thinking about going to the Cascades to get back into the swing of things. Do you want to come?"

"Yeah, that sounds like fun. I could keep you company. Give you moral support or something."

"I'll figure out something to keep you busy, I promise. Just give me a couple of days to come up with some specifics." Arizona's stomach rumbled; their conversation had distracted her from grabbing food, but now that she had gotten an answer from Alex, a Caesar salad was her top priority. She turned to look at the line, hoping that it had died down somewhat from when she had entered the building.

It was infinitely shorter than before, but that didn't mean she wanted to wait in it. "Do you want to go wait in line?" She looked back at Alex, hoping that he would be a little more decisive than her. But he wasn't even paying attention to her. "Alex?"

He glanced toward the entrance of the building again, and this time Arizona realized he really was looking for someone. She started to follow his line of sight, but Alex's words stopped her. "I might have invited somebody else to lunch."

"Who?"

The boy remained mum.

"Alex, tell me who it is." Frustrated, Arizona turned back around, trying her best to spot a familiar face in the crowd. As soon as she spotted Callie she felt ridiculous for even thinking it could be anybody but her. She should have known Alex would invite the girl to lunch. When Arizona asked Callie to partner up with Alex in class, she hadn't been expecting them to hit it off so well. She was happy they did, of course; Alex could use a few friends. But it didn't necessarily mean she wanted him to invite Callie to lunch with them.

"We're going to talk about this later," she assured Alex. "You could have at least given me some warning." He shrugged her off, instead waving at Callie. It only took a second for her to spot him and begin to make her way over. Arizona let out a quiet sigh and resigned herself to a lunch full of awkward small talk.

There was only so much to discuss with a student outside of a school environment that wasn't overly personal. And their discussions had already been more personal than Arizona liked; with each conversation she had with Callie, she found herself sharing more information than she was comfortable with. She was still beating herself up over confessing she found Callie's full name pretty. If she wanted the position as tenured professor, these slipups couldn't be happening. With Alex it was one thing—he was a graduate student, and she was his mentor—with Callie it was completely different, and that terrified her.

* * *

Callie noticed Dr. Robbins the second she walked into the dining hall. It was impossible not to; the sunlight was catching her hair in just the right way to make it glow brightly. She was leaning forward, speaking to Alex about something. The boy listened intently, and for a moment Callie hesitated. She didn't want to interrupt their conversation, not when it seemed so important.

But she didn't have to wait too long; Alex noticed her almost immediately. He gave her a wave and then said something to Dr. Robbins, who turned around in her seat. The professor gave her a smile, but something about it didn't feel right. It wasn't as genuine.

Alex had promised that she wouldn't be crashing their lunch, but the professor's tense posture made it seem like she was. Callie tried not to focus on it too much; they had already seen her, so she couldn't just leave. If it was awkward once she sat down, she could always make an excuse a few minutes into the lunch and bail.

As she approached the table, she realized she had no idea where she was supposed to sit. Alex and Dr. Robbins had chosen opposite sides of the table, so she had to pick between the two. She wasn't sure what the proper etiquette was, but she assumed the polite thing to do was sit next to Alex.

He gave her a small smile and tilted his head in the direction of the chair. She slipped her backpack off and set it on the ground next to her before taking a seat. She meant to say hello, but what came out instead was, "I hope it's okay that Alex invited me to lunch." She didn't mean to sound quite so meek, but as soon as she said it she realized it was probably for the better. Dr. Robbins visibly relaxed in her chair, her shoulders losing some tension as she leaned against the backrest.

"Of course it's okay!" Dr. Robbins glanced toward Alex, and for a second Callie thought that the boy looked uncomfortable.

But then his expression changed and he shifted in his seat, placing a hand over his stomach. "I'm starving. Can we get lunch now?"

Dr. Robbins nodded, and looked at Callie. "Do you know what you're getting?"

Callie didn't normally come to this dining hall. It was one of the smaller restaurants on campus, and even though it only had a deli and pizzeria, it was always overcrowded. She eyed her choices, trying her best not to grimace. She wasn't a big fan of sandwiches, and she'd already had pizza with Mark this week. But she'd much rather have it again than suffer through a sandwich. She realized how long she was taking to answer such a simple question, so she gave a little shrug and said, "I think I'll get pizza."

The professor's eyes lit up. "Pizza sounds a lot better than what I was thinking of. Mind if I join you?"

Callie shook her head. "No, not at all. Do you want to go now?" She peered at the line; there were ten people waiting to put in their orders, but since the pizzas were already pre-made it wouldn't take too long to get through.

Dr. Robbins nodded. "Yeah, might as well before it gets busy again." She stood, and Callie followed suit. The professor turned to Alex. "What would you like? I'll grab it for you."

"Pepperoni, please. Could you grab me two slices?"

"Yeah, of course. Just watch for when we're at the front of the line, okay? Don't play with your phone, that was so awkward last time." Alex waved her off with an expression of mock annoyance. Callie tried to keep up with their conversation, but half of it didn't make sense.

She let the professor lead the way to the pizzeria. There wasn't enough room for them to walk side-by-side, so she figured it was better that Dr. Robbins walked in front. She made sure to keep a suitable distance away, worried that if she got too close the professor might stop and they would recreate their first meeting all over again.

They took their places at the back of the line. Dr. Robbins stepped behind Callie, ushering her forward. "Sometimes it takes them a while to process everything for the Dine with Faculty Program," she explained. "I'd rather you not have to wait while Alex and I get our food."

Callie couldn't help but ask, "How does the program work?" She'd heard about it her freshman year, but she'd never actually known anybody that did it before. She assumed it was just like the utensil budget—students could steal up to two forks a semester—it was there, but nobody ever actually used it.

"Well, each month the university allows students to take their professors out to lunch. It sort of sounds like an odd concept, but it really helps promote professional student/teacher relationships." The line moved forward, but Callie hadn't noticed. Dr. Robbins took a step closer, her shoes brushing against the side of Callie's left boot.

"When I first met Alex, he had just transferred here from Washington. Each graduate student is supposed to get a mentor, but because he came here midway through the year, all the professors were too busy to take on another student. I offered to mentor him. He didn't know where anything was, so I showed him around campus and bought him lunch."

Dr. Robbins shrugged, looking nowhere in particular as she recalled their meeting. Callie took the opportunity to study the profile of her face, watching as the professor's eyes crinkled at the memory. "It took us a few months to figure out that there was a budget for this sort of thing—I was new, too—but when someone finally told us, we made it a tradition to go out every first Wednesday of the month." She shook her head and suddenly her cheeks were a light pink. "I'm sorry, that was probably more than you wanted to know."

"No, it's good to know."

Dr. Robbins tilted her head, confused. "Why, are you thinking about taking a professor out to lunch?"

"I don't know any of my professors well enough for that. I wouldn't have anything to intelligent to say, I think. I'm pretty sure the entire lunch would be filled with an awkward silence."

"Well, you're talking to me." Dr. Robbins gave her a little smile, one that Callie had never seen before. "I'm sure you could do it."

Callie blushed at the subtle complement, but quickly shook her head. "This doesn't count, we're not talking about…" she fumbled, losing her stride in the conversation, "…the literary merits of Faulkner, or something."

"There is no written law that you have to have a brilliant conversation over Faulkner's best pieces—or any author, for that matter. I don't think the university intended it to be a purely scholarly accolade. I mean, I certainly wouldn't want to suffer through a conversation based purely on _As I Lay Dying_." There was a sparkle in her eye as she added, "But you know, I'm just a science writer. I'd much rather discuss HeLa cells."

"What are those?" Callie asked, confused.

Dr. Robbins just grinned. "You'll know soon enough, don't worry."

Callie considered pulling out her phone to look it up—the professor's intentionally unspecific answer had her intrigued—but she was next in line. She'd been so invested in the conversation she hadn't noticed the line growing shorter and shorter. The student ahead of her finished his order, and Dr. Robbins nudged her forward.

She realized she had no idea what she wanted. Much to the dismay of the pizzeria employee, she scanned the shelves, looking at her options. The employee let out a frazzled sigh and clasped his hands together, waiting for Callie to decide. It didn't help that Dr. Robbins was so close; Callie was more focused on the warmth of the professor's body behind her than choosing what she wanted.

"I hear the Hawaiian pizza is excellent," the professor suggested. "I've never tried it myself—I don't like pineapple—but Alex swears by it."

And that was how Callie found herself walking away from the pizzeria with a slice of Hawaiian and a soda. She didn't even remember ordering it; she just remembered Alex running up at the last minute and paying for everything. Dr. Robbins was annoyed that he was cutting it close, but none of that seemed to matter as they settled back at their table.

Alex immediately dug into his pizza, devouring his first slice in the time it took Callie to take three bites of hers. She set hers down and took a sip of her drink, briefly glancing at the professor as she did so.

"So how are you enjoying Dr. Altman's class, now that you're further in?"

Callie froze mid-sip. If she were being honest, she wasn't a fan of the class. It had only just started, but she was almost positive that she wouldn't like it. Dr. Altman's teaching method consisted mostly of class discussion. Since the professor had read the entire syllabus the first day, Callie was well aware that she was expected to participate at least once during each seventy-five minute class period. And it wasn't that Callie didn't have anything to say; she just wasn't comfortable speaking in a room full of thirty people all expecting her to sound absolutely brilliant.

She set her cup down unnecessarily hard, wincing as it made a loud crack against the plastic of the table. "It's good," she said, unable to meet the professor's eye. "I like the book we're reading." At least one part of that was true; the book wasn't half bad for a required textbook.

Dr. Robbins tilted her head, intrigued. "Which book is that? She changes them semester to semester so I can never seem to keep up."

"_Refuge_," Callie said. "I don't remember the author off the top of my head, though."

"Terry Tempest Williams," Alex said, his mouth full of food. Dr. Robbins grimaced at his lack of manners.

"That's a good book," she said, looking back at Callie. "There are lots of great things to take away from it. I definitely had a newfound appreciation for birds once I finished it. For a brief period I even considered picking up bird watching as a hobby."

"We've only read the first few chapters," Callie admitted. "We spent a lot of time analyzing the poem at the start of the book, the one about wild geese." At least, she was pretty sure that was what they spent half the class talking about; she zoned out halfway through her classmates trying to come up with various alternatives to what the wild geese truly symbolized. There was a reason she wasn't a literature major; sometimes geese were just geese.

Dr. Robbins grinned and shook her head, amused. Callie wondered if the professor knew something more than she did, or if she had caught on to Callie's dislike of the subject material. But then she said, "I think it's silly that we make our professional writing majors take classes like Shakespeare and Literature and Ecology. I mean, yes, you could argue that any well-rounded college student needs to understand how to interpret difficult text, but honestly we're wasting credit hours on classes that are better geared toward literature majors." Callie opened her mouth to halfheartedly protest, but found she had nothing to say that went against Dr. Robbins. "Don't get me wrong," she continued, "I think learning about the environment is important, and _Refuge_ is still an amazing book, but you'd think that if we wanted to teach our future professional writers how to improve the environment, we would show them how to educate an audience on subjects like mountain top removal and radiation poisoning."

"So what you're saying is we should just completely get rid of Literature and Ecology and only teach Science Writing," Alex suggested, a smug grin on his face.

Dr. Robbins pursed her lips, considering Alex's statement. "I wouldn't necessarily say that," she finally said. "I just don't think it should be a mandatory class." She turned to Callie, a gleam in her eye. "But until that gets fixed, I hope you enjoy it. I'm sure you'll learn a lot with Dr. Altman."

Callie gave her a weak smile. "I'm sure I will."

Before Dr. Robbins could add anything else, Alex butted in to the conversation. "What are you doing this weekend, Callie?"

"Homework, I guess." She felt a little awkward discussing her plans in front of Dr. Robbins; admitting that she was going to get drunk and spend the majority of her weekend playing Mario Kart with Mark wasn't something she wanted to do. "I hadn't planned much beyond that," she said to fill the silence.

"Would you like to go on a hike with us?" Alex asked. Callie heard a thump under the table, followed by a small grunt of pain from Alex. But when she glanced at Dr. Robbins, the professor had a hesitant smile on her face and was looking directly at Callie.

"We're going to the Cascades," Dr. Robbins said. "I need to do some research and Alex is along for the company." The professor drew a shaky breath; this was the first time Callie had seen her even the slightest bit unnerved. Even spilling coffee on her hadn't affected Dr. Robbins as much as this offhanded invite had. For a moment, Callie thought the professor was going to rescind the invitation. But then she said, "You're more than welcome to join us."


	6. Chapter 6

The entire way back to Arizona's office, Alex looked meek and apologetic. But that didn't stop the rage from boiling within her; she was absolutely furious. She breezed past old and current students alike, ignoring their curious gazes toward her and sympathetic glances toward Alex. She had to give him credit: he knew what was coming, but instead of ducking out, he obediently followed her to her office.

She unlocked the door and ushered Alex through. He was quick to get past the threshold, not wanting to anger her further. It took every ounce of her willpower to not slam the door shut behind her. As soon as she was sure it was closed she spun to face the boy. "How stupid could you be, Alex! Why would you invite her along?" She hadn't meant for her voice to be so loud, but once she started yelling she couldn't stop.

"We're just hiking. I don't understand why this is such a big deal. You've invited students on hikes before."

"Yes, as part of a big group!" she protested. "And it was always part of a school project. They were there to work, not chat with me."

"So what? You seem to like her just fine." His words hit too close to home; she looked away, suddenly unable to meet his eye. She unconsciously crossed her arms, shielding herself from Alex. He let out an incredulous laugh. "Is that what it is?"

She glanced up but immediately regretted it; Alex was looking at her with a calculating expression, as if he were putting together all the puzzle pieces she had so carelessly let slip. And with that revelation, her anger was gone, replaced by unease. "What?"

"I know you like her as a student..." he trailed off, his eyes growing wide as he realized the implication of what his next statement would bring. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. But Arizona didn't trust him; she cut him off, not certain she could hear him say it out loud. Hearing those words made them real.

"So? She's a good student. She does her readings and comes prepared to class. I'm pretty sure any professor would like her." She must have laid it on a little too thick, because Alex gave her a doubtful look.

"So then why are you overreacting?" he asked. She knew he didn't buy it—the expression on his face said it all—but he was giving her an out.

"I didn't realize I was so boring that you needed to bring your own source of entertainment." The explanation sounded fake, even to her. She hoped that the walls were thick enough that nobody else could hear this sham of a conversation. There was no way she could feasibly explain this to Dr. Webber if somebody reported her. But she wasn't even sure what an eavesdropper could report; they weren't talking so much about the problem as around it. But if Alex knew, then that was one more person than she had planned to tell.

"I seriously doubt you're this upset with me because you're jealous." She waited with bated breath for him to argue more, but he quickly dropped the subject. Instead, he added, "If you hadn't wanted her there, you could have uninvited her."

"That would be rude, Alex."

"So? You've done it to other students." He gave her a smirk. "I think you want her there. You just can't admit it to yourself." His smile grew wider as he received the reaction he had been going for: she blushed. He knew he was completely correct, and there was nothing she could do to convince him otherwise. "Deep down, you're happy I invited her."

There was no point in denying it. Once she got over her superficial emotions of nervousness and denial, she knew she was undoubtedly happy that Callie was going hiking with them. There was something about the younger woman that fascinated Arizona. But Alex's actions weren't excusable simply because they made her happy. She was expected to remain professional, and if she couldn't control Alex, then how could even begin to show Dr. Webber she was worthy of this job? She jabbed a finger into his chest. "Don't you dare do this again."

* * *

In the two years Callie had been at the university, she'd never seen the streets so deserted. Of course, she'd never been up this early, either; there had never been a reason for her to be showered and ready by 7:30 on a Saturday morning, at least not until now. She'd even left her apartment a little early, uncertain how long the line at Starbucks would be.

As it turned out, nobody went to the coffee shop at eight a.m. on the weekend, so Callie was able to order what she wanted and get out relatively quickly. For a moment she considered driving to and parking on campus, but there was a football game later, and she'd heard enough horror stories about students getting their cars towed to be apprehensive about it. Instead, she left her car in the parking garage next to Starbucks and began the long trek from the coffee shop to campus.

A few minutes in, she decided the walk wasn't so bad. The weather was a little chilly, but she was certain it would warm up as the day progressed, and her movement helped keep her at a comfortable temperature. She had unintentionally chosen a more roundabout way to get to campus, but she found herself enjoying the picturesque scenery all around her. The university was a sprawling, massive giant—it was the only thing in the town, really, aside from the necessary pizza delivery, Chinese takeout and quaint downtown area with more bars than restaurants.

Callie found herself strolling along the one and only road that passed the downtown shops. The area had been renovated over the summer to allow for more pedestrian traffic, so she hadn't gotten the chance to experience the changes. The workers had done a beautiful job: cobblestone pathways wound parallel to the street and gave way to benches and young, freshly planted trees. Potted plants hung from posts on streetlamps, their flowers tumbling over the sides of the pots in a cascading array of pastel colors.

As Callie rounded the corner to their designated meeting area, she set her coffee down on a nearby bench and pulled her phone out to check the time. She still had fifteen or so minutes before she had to be in the parking lot. She considered going into the nearest building to wait out the remainder of the time, but when she looked up she spotted a single car in the otherwise vacant parking lot. She squinted, trying to see if she could make out anyone in the SUV, but she was too far away.

She noticed someone leaning against the car as she drew closer. Blonde hair glistened in the sunlight, and Callie immediately knew who it was. She hadn't expected to find Dr. Robbins already waiting in the parking lot, but she couldn't deny that she was pleased it was the professor and not Alex. While the boy's personality had taken a drastic turn for the better, she didn't necessarily want to be left alone with him for an extended period of time.

Dr. Robbins hadn't spotted her yet, so Callie took the time to unabashedly study her. She was so used to seeing the professors around campus dressed in business attire that it took her a moment to look beyond the casualness of her outfit and really see what she was wearing. But when she did just that, she felt her breath catch in her throat.

Mark had always been a firm believer in yoga pants; Callie had been on the receiving end of many a rant from him about just how amazing they were. She'd always brushed him off, only half interested in the conversation. But now she found herself agreeing to everything he'd said.

Dr. Robbins was wearing black yoga pants that ended just below her knees. They wrapped tightly around her thighs, defining the musculature underneath. The professor had one leg propped against the door of her car, casually waiting for Alex and Callie to arrive. Her sneakers matched her jacket—light blue, with white stripes along the side. Callie knew without looking that it made the color of her eyes pop. She swallowed hard, trying to regain her composure.

The professor's eyes were closed, her head resting against the SUV's window as she basked in the sunlight. When Callie drew closer, she noticed something else—Dr. Robbins was exhausted. The professor had done a good job covering it up with makeup, but Callie could see bags under her eyes. The professor halfheartedly covered her mouth as she let out a yawn.

Callie was almost directly in front of Dr. Robbins before the professor noticed her. She felt awkward not announcing her presence in some way, so she politely cleared her throat. Dr. Robbins jumped, her foot falling from its position against the car. She pressed a hand to her heart, and Callie felt slightly guilty interrupting what might have been a peaceful moment for the professor. But then blue eyes met hers, and she got distracted by just how much the jacket brought out their color.

"Good morning," the professor greeted, her voice higher than normal. "You're here early."

Callie considered regaling her with the story of going to Starbucks, but it seemed so menial and boring, especially when the professor could look down and see the coffee in her hand. She shrugged and pointed out, "You are, too."

The professor grinned, then let out another yawn. "Yeah, I guess so." She checked her watch. "Is it really only 8:15?" Callie said nothing, merely nodding in response to the rhetorical question. "I don't know if you know this about Alex, but he's never on time. We'll be waiting here long past 8:30."

Callie desperately wanted to ask why the professor had shown up early then, but it was better to let the professor talk; if she wanted to divulge that information, she would. But Dr. Robbins was content to stand in silence a while longer. Callie found herself fidgeting after a minute, hoping that Dr. Robbins would notice that her hands were full.

She took a sip of her drink to pass the time, relieved to find that it was still passable as a warm beverage. It had definitely lost some of its heat on the walk over, but it remained mildly hot. Dr. Robbins had been zoning out, but Callie's sudden movement caught her attention. The professor watched with a keen interest as Callie finished drinking and lowered the cup. When she noticed the coffee in Callie's other hand, her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Is it a two cups of coffee sort of morning?" The professor asked, her voice teasing. Callie couldn't help the grin that spread across her face.

"No, but I do recall owing you a coffee."

"Callie…" the professor trailed off, at a loss for words. Eventually, she murmured, "You didn't have to do that."

Callie shook her head. "I ruined your shirt. It's the least I can do." She drew a breath, hoping that Dr. Robbins didn't take her next comment the wrong way. "And, not to be mean, but you definitely seem like you could use some."

The professor looked at her for a long moment, an unreadable expression on her face. But then she said, "You're right. I've been up since five working on my research. I'm exhausted." It was the most honest Callie had been with her, and the professor seemed to appreciate that. Callie found herself letting out a silent sigh of relief as Dr. Robbins gave her a small smile. "Thank you for the coffee."

Callie held the cup out, barely breathing when the professor's fingers brushed against her own as she accepted the drink. Now that she'd given Dr. Robbins the coffee, Callie was content to stand in silence and simply enjoy the professor's presence. But Dr. Robbins seemed to have other ideas; the further into the coffee she got, the more talkative she was. At first it was just little things—she mentioned the chill in the weather and asked Callie how the rest of her week was. But after finding out that Callie had never been to the Cascades before, she promptly began describing the hike.

"It's not technically part of the Appalachian Trail—that's further east by about twenty miles—but it's one of the only hikes around here that has water, which is what I'm concentrating on." She took a sip of her coffee. "It's one of the more popular trails, so we may not stay by the waterfall for too long. There's a trail that leads further back to the Upper Falls, and I'd like to see that. Have you ever been to McAfee Knob?"

"I've seen pictures of it," Callie said. "But I haven't been there myself. It's the most photographed part of the Appalachian trail, right?"

Dr. Robbins grinned. "I'm impressed you knew that! Yes, it's considered one of the prettiest views on the trail, even though technically it's a mile off the path." She shook her head. "Anyway, that's beside the point. Since you haven't been to McAfee Knob, you don't really have anything to compare it to, but a few miles out from the waterfall is Barney's Wall. It's sort of like McAfee—it's a cliff that overlooks a valley—but I think it's a lot better. If we have time, maybe we could head up there. You can even see the university from there."

"That sounds really pretty," Callie said. She wasn't much of a hiker, but from the way Dr. Robbins talked about it, it sounded like the professor was. For the first time since she accepted the invitation, she wondered what she had gotten herself into. She knew that the hike to and from the waterfall alone was less than four miles, but if Dr. Robbins kept tacking on extra excursions, she was going to rack up more mileage than her body could handle.

Dr. Robbins must have noticed her hesitation. "We don't have to go there today," she said quickly. "I have more than enough work to catch up on in my office, so we can just spend a few hours out there and come back before the football game begins. I'm sure you want to see that."

Callie didn't want to disappoint the professor, so she asked, "How about we decide once we're at the waterfall? If we have time, I'd love to see it."

"That's a great idea!" Dr. Robbins looked ecstatic, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she shot Callie a gigantic grin. In that moment, Callie knew that even if she were physically exhausted by the time they reached the waterfall, she would still hike all the way up to Barney's Wall just to make the professor happy.

She finished the remains of her coffee just as Alex came into sight. He gave them a wave and jogged the remaining steps, looking disheveled in his running shorts and a t-shirt that advertised the university's logo. "Sorry I'm late," he said, running a hand through his short hair. "I forgot to set my alarm."

Dr. Robbins shrugged. "You don't have to apologize to me. I already knew you'd be late. But I think you owe Callie an apology. She showed up fifteen minutes early." He grumbled out another sorry, this one less sincere than the last. The professor narrowed her eyes, and for a second Callie thought she would call him out on it, but she just shook her head and asked, "Are you two ready to go?"


	7. Chapter 7

Alex had called shotgun immediately, hopping into the car before Callie even had a chance to process his shouted words. Dr. Robbins just rolled her eyes and gestured for her to take the back seat. "I'll make him give it up on the way back," she promised. Callie shrugged; she didn't care. She was just happy to be invited along.

She slid into the back of the vehicle, choosing the seat behind Alex. Dr. Robbins turned the car on and shifted it into drive, but waited until Callie had clicked her seatbelt into place before moving. The radio was just barely audible; Callie strained to hear it, curious as to what musical preference the professor had. The chorus came on, and Callie was delighted to recognize the tune.

The professor and Alex struck up a conversation. Callie only half-listened as Alex vented his frustration over one of his professors, preferring to stare out the window as they drove toward the outskirts of town and got on the highway. Nobody had mentioned how far away the hike was, but since they were in the middle of nowhere, she figured it had to be a half hour minimum.

They headed north on the highway, far away from civilization. The road wound through the mountains, rising and falling with the land. As they neared the top of a mountain, Callie felt her breath catch in her throat; a valley sprawled out before them, grassy plains giving way to deciduous trees as the elevation rose again. It wasn't as if she hadn't seen the mountains before—they were always there, looming behind the buildings and peeking through the trees—but it never felt quite as organic as this.

She felt like a freshman again, fresh off her flight from Miami. It had taken her weeks to get used to the constant change in elevation. Her roommate had teased her about her endless fascination with the mountains, but coming from a state where everything was so flat, she couldn't help but revel in the complete change of scenery.

Callie leaned closer to the window, pressing her arm against the cool glass as she tried to get one last glimpse of the valley before they descended and it was hidden from view. She wasn't aware of the lull in conversation until Dr. Robbins spoke to her. "It's amazing, isn't it?"

Callie nodded, and then realized the professor couldn't possibly see the movement; she had to focus on the road. So she cleared her throat and said, "Yeah, it's beautiful."

"It's funny how we get so caught up in the day-to-day nonsense that we forget about nature." She took one hand from the wheel and made a circular motion with her index finger, pointing to the outside. "It's around us all the time, but unless something directly affects us, we don't care."

Alex let out a huff, looking very much like a petulant child. "You don't have to give us a lecture. Callie's going to hear enough about conserving the planet in Altman's class, and you already know that I recycle." Callie caught a glimpse of Dr. Robbins rolling her eyes through the rearview mirror.

"I wasn't going to give a lecture," the professor said, her voice slightly strained. She was silent for a moment as she maneuvered the car around a truck slowly climbing up the next mountain. "But just so you know, recycling alone isn't going to do anything. Maybe you should ask Dr. Altman if you can sit in on her class." Callie shifted awkwardly in her seat, uncomfortable with the tense atmosphere in the car. Alex looked out the window, and for a moment Callie thought that he was intentionally trying to ignore the professor. But then he shook his head and grinned at her, like it was all a big joke.

"I'm sure she'd love that," he said. "Maybe I could give her some pointers, let her know that she's teaching her class the wrong way."

Dr. Robbins laughed and shook her head. "Don't you dare tell her that! Like I said before, Literature and Ecology is still an important class to take. There just needs to be more emphasis on the science."

The two carried on the debate for the remainder of the car ride. Callie guessed that their conversation at lunch the other day hadn't been the first time they'd talked about the similarities between the two classes. Judging by how enthusiastically they were discussing it, Callie didn't doubt this would be their last, either. Dr. Robbins was so enthralled in the conversation she almost missed the brown sign indicating the way to the Cascades parking lot. Alex pointed it out in the nick of time.

The road took them another four miles before they arrived at the entrance of the Cascades parking lot. Unlike the deserted campus they had just left, the parking lot was jam packed with cars. As Dr. Robbins wound through the parked cars, looking for a spot, Callie studied the other hikers.

A fair amount of people seemed to be college aged; some of them had dogs. There was one couple with a young child, but the rest of the hikers were kid-free. A few students looked into the car as Dr. Robbins drove by, but they gave no indication of acknowledgement, just mere curiosity. One had on an engineering shirt, so Callie took an educated guess and assumed most of them were engineers—they looked like they could be, anyway, with their lanky limbs and glasses.

They finally found a free spot toward the back of the parking lot, but the road was designed in such a way that they had to drive all the way to the front just so they could loop around to snag it before another car could.

As soon as Callie opened the door, she could hear the steady flow of moving water. She glanced around, trying to find the stream; it was a good distance away, beyond a field and a decorative rock wall. It was larger than she thought it would be, a good several feet across, with miniature drop-offs that sent water crashing from one height to the next. Dr. Robbins got out of the car and moved to the trunk, popping it open and grabbing a backpack.

"Callie, would you like a water bottle?" The professor held one out, offering it to her. Callie nodded, mildly embarrassed that she had forgotten to pack one. She'd been so concerned with getting coffee that she hadn't even considered just how much hiking they would be doing. Callie held her hand out, but Dr. Robbins shook her head. "You don't have to carry it. We'll just put everything in this," she gestured to the backpack, "and take turns wearing it." She turned to Alex with a grin on her face. "Since you were late, you get to carry it first."

Alex looked like he wanted to protest, but thought better of it. He stuck his hand out and Dr. Robbins happily gave him the backpack. He slung it onto his shoulder, only looking slightly annoyed. He pointed toward the start of the trail. "Can we go now?"

The professor nodded, and Alex led the way toward the opening in the trees. Despite the sun shining brightly on the parking lot, the air was noticeably cooler the closer they got to the stream. A fine mist had settled onto their clothing and skin from the churning waters below, the little droplets glittering as the sun hit them. Callie glanced at the professor and had to hide a grin; with her pale complexion and her sparkling skin, she could easily pass as a vampire straight out of Twilight. She must not have hidden her amusement well enough, because Dr. Robbins tilted her head and asked, "What is it, Callie?"

Callie opened her mouth to respond, but realized how utterly ridiculous she would sound. She gave a halfhearted shrug, hoping the professor would drop it, but Alex must have caught on because chuckled and said, "Dude, you look like Edward Cullen's long-lost sibling."

Dr. Robbins narrowed her eyes, looking vaguely insulted. "Watch a lot of Twilight recently, Alex?" The boy turned a bright red, stuttering a 'no' so quickly Callie didn't quite believe him. He quickly upped his pace, speeding ahead of the women. Dr. Robbins grinned triumphantly, her dimples popping. She gave Alex a moment to get over his embarrassment before she hastened to catch up.

For the most part, the trail and river ran parallel to one another, but occasionally the trail drew too close to the river, with only a thin divide of rock separating the two. During those times, Callie made sure to stay on the outermost section of the trail; the rock almost always created a miniature cliff, and Callie didn't even want to think about what would happen if she fell into the swirling whitewater.

The hike had started out at a mild incline, but it was starting to increase very rapidly. Stone steps were carved into the side of a steep hill, worn smooth by thousands of hikers over the years. The stones were covered in mud and exceedingly slippery; Callie found she had to focus on where she placed her foot so she wouldn't slip. Ahead of her, Dr. Robbins stepped on a particularly muddy patch and went sliding forward. She let out a gasp as she lost her balance, throwing her arms out in front of her. She steadied herself just in time, and Callie breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Are you alright?" Callie asked. She had been prepared to catch the professor if need be, but she was certain that the toppling woman would have knocked her off-center too, and they would have both tumbled to the bottom of the steps.

The professor gave her a curt nod, but Callie could see the lingering distress in her eyes. "I'm fine. I was just caught off guard." Dr. Robbins started up the stairs again, this time at a much more careful pace. Callie split her time between watching where she was stepping and making sure that the professor was safely ascending the stairs. She could still feel her heart racing in her chest, and it wasn't just from the physical activity.

By the time they reached a small decline, all three of them were breathing heavily. It gave them a nice reprieve from the climb, and once the land started to slope upward again, Alex had managed to catch his breath enough to ask, "So what was up with the coffee earlier? Did you two meet at Starbucks or something?"

Callie glanced at Dr. Robbins in time to see the professor take in a sharp breath, her face serious. "No," she said, her words barely audible over the stream. It had seemed unusual that Alex hadn't pointed it out earlier, but once they had started hiking Callie had completely forgotten about it.

Callie hastily jumped into the conversation. "I owed her a cup of coffee."

Both heads immediately turned in her direction. Alex looked merely curious whereas Dr. Robbins looked apprehensive. Callie realized that while Alex and the professor were close, she probably hadn't disclosed that bit of information to the boy. She swallowed, buying herself time to think of a better way to explain the story that didn't end in the professor accepting her invitation to go out for coffee.

She took too long; by the time she had figured out a reasonable explanation, Dr. Robbins was saying, "On the first day of classes, I was walking toward my office and out of nowhere Callie crashed into me. I was about to take a sip of my coffee, so I got it all over my favorite shirt." Callie flushed. She hadn't known it had been the professor's favorite shirt. Now she felt even worse. "Callie offered to pay for the dry cleaning, but she looked so upset about it that I let her off the hook." The professor looked at her, a soft smile playing at her lips, letting Callie know that she wasn't mad about the event any longer. "I didn't want her to do anything, but she kept insisting that she at least buy me a cup of coffee to make up for the one she spilled."

Alex glanced between the two of them, his expression serious as Dr. Robbins retold the story. When she got to the end, he let out a loud, boisterous laugh. "That's hilarious!" Callie blushed even harder and looked toward the ground. "Consider yourself lucky, Callie. I accidentally spilled soda all over her favorite sweater and she wouldn't talk to me for days. At least she's still talking to you."

Out of the corner of her eye, Callie saw Dr. Robbins shaking her head. "Don't be ridiculous, Karev. Of course I would still talk to Callie. I wouldn't be a very good professor if I ignored my students."

Their conversation was cut short when they rounded a bend in path and came to a gigantic hill. Alex wiped the perspiration from his forehead and let out a groan. "How much further do we have? I'm getting tired of carrying this backpack."

"We're almost there. It shouldn't be too much longer." Alex let out a whoop and picked up the pace, leaping over a tree root and plowing ahead. Dr. Robbins stopped and turned to Callie. "How are you doing?"

"Great," Callie said. And for once, she actually did feel great; she had forgotten what it was like to be this far away from civilization. Her legs weren't quite used to walking uphill, but somewhere between the first mile and the second, she had gotten over the uncomfortable sensation and started to enjoy the workout.

Content with her answer, Dr. Robbins continued to trek along the path. Callie followed behind. With Alex so far ahead, it meant that she could focus all of her attention on the professor without feeling like she had to be too cautious about it. As they climbed up the hill, Callie found herself constantly fascinated with the professor's calves. They were well defined already, but the uphill strides definitely helped draw attention to the muscles. But of course from there it was only a short distance to the professor's yoga pants, and Callie found herself unsafely distracted by other parts of the woman's body. It was only fair; Callie was a respectable distance away, and with the amount of elevation between them, Callie was constantly on eye level with the professor's shapely rear. It wasn't as if she could simply look away.

Alex was waiting for them around the bend. He was leaning against a bench, the backpack on the ground next to him. Callie considered sitting down next to him, but by the time she reached the bench, Dr. Robbins was encouraging Alex to keep moving. Callie begrudgingly kept pace with him this time, and the professor fell toward the back of their makeshift line.

The elevation grew steeper and steeper, and even Alex, who had tried to maintain a conversation earlier in the hike, stopped talking and simply focused on his breathing. As they drew closer to the falls, they started to run into other hikers; on the way up, there were two separate paths, the one running parallel to the river, and the other high above. The one they had taken was supposedly more difficult, with higher changes in elevation. The other was a fire road, and subsequently was flatter and less difficult to climb. Toward the end of the hike, however, both roads converged into a single trail that lead to the foot of the waterfall.

Much to Callie's surprise, they managed to run into the group of engineers again. And if her hunch hadn't been correct before, it most certainly was now; the group of boys was speaking loudly about one of their introductory engineering classes. One member of the group glanced up as they passed, but the rest were too involved in the conversation to care.

Callie hadn't considered the river to be violent before, but as they drew nearer to the waterfall, the water was moving so quickly that it was almost all white. A tree had recently fallen into the river, creating a dam and impeding the water's natural flow. But instead of damming up, the water gushed through the cracks and crevices and over the top of the trunk, crashing into the pool below. With the water as high as it was, Callie doubted that the tree would stay there for long.

They turned another corner, and suddenly the waterfall was in front of them. Callie stopped abruptly, causing Dr. Robbins to crash into her. The professor let out a huff, but it didn't sound like she was annoyed, just caught off guard. Alex had also slowed to a halt, eying the waterfall with a mixture of awe and relief. For as crowded as the trail was, Callie knew the waterfall had to be pretty, but she hadn't expected it to exceed her expectations. It wasn't as majestic or grand as the iconic Niagara Falls—far from it—but the simplistic beauty of it took Callie's breath away.

Alex slung the backpack to the ground and unzipped it, pulling out water for the three of them. Callie took the proffered drink gratefully; she hadn't realized how thirsty she was. As she drained the contents of her bottle, she watched a few hikers remove their shoes and place their feet in the water. One daring soul removed all but his boxers and leapt into the pool, resurfacing a moment later with a yelp of excitement.

Dr. Robbins gestured to the outer ledge of the pool. "In the summer, a lot of students come here to swim." She had to shout over the roar of the waterfall, and even then Callie could barely hear her. "Do you want to put your feet in?" The professor gestured toward the water for good measure.

Callie nodded. She followed Dr. Robbins down to the water, watching as the professor removed her shoes and plopped onto the rock. Callie mirrored her actions, slipping her shoes and socks off before gingerly approaching the water. She settled a respectful distance away, careful not to brush against the professor as she put her feet into the water and leaned back. She'd expected the water to be cold—it was coming from a mountain spring, after all—but not freezing.

Dr. Robbins laughed as Callie withdrew her feet seconds after she submerged them. "This is the warmest the water gets," she said. "It feels good after a while." Callie glanced toward the people playing in the water, an incredulous look on her face. A couple of boys were racing from one side of the river to the other, swimming a loose interpretation of freestyle. Slowly, she dipped her toes back in, gritting her teeth as she waited to get used to the temperature.

She wasn't at all surprised when she found that the professor was right; after a minute, the icy water felt amazing on her feet. She swung her legs back and forth, enjoying the feel of the water against her skin. Alex sat down next to Callie, sandwiching her between himself and the professor. He was so close that she had no choice but to scoot closer to the professor, giving him room. She half expected Dr. Robbins to move further to the left, but she stayed where she was, flinching only slightly as Callie accidentally brushed her arm against the professor's.

"So what are you writing, exactly?" Callie asked. Dr. Robbins had only briefly mentioned what it was, which meant that Callie was still mostly in the dark as to what the professor was researching. She wasn't even sure what the professor meant by research; the woman wasn't a scientist, so conducting experiments was out of the question.

"It's hard to explain," Dr. Robbins began, and for a moment Callie thought that she wouldn't even attempt an explanation. The professor's brow furrowed, and Callie realized the woman was trying to come up with the right words. "Over the last few decades, there's been a tremendous increase in pollution in the Appalachian Mountains. There's been a decrease in air quality and, in some places, the water is so polluted that fish can't survive in it. The subject has been covered a lot by nature conservationists, but none of them are doing it justice, I think. Anybody can talk a big game, but it's another matter entirely to experience the pollution for yourself and propose realistic solutions." She drew a breath and turned to Callie, giving her a once over. "Does that make sense?"

Callie thought for a moment and then shook her head. "Not really, no. How does it relate to science writing?"

"That's a good question! We'll talk about it more in class, of course, but the short answer is that science writing is a lot more than just putting facts on a paper. There has to be a story—a reason for the audience to care. I'm trying to find that story." The professor grinned, admitting, "I just don't know what it is yet."


	8. Chapter 8

They relaxed for another fifteen minutes before Dr. Robbins decided they needed to head to the Upper Falls. She led the way and, surprisingly, Alex took the rear. Callie offered to let him pass her, but he shook his head. It wasn't until they began their ascent that he explained why—he was starting to get blisters on his ankles. Dr. Robbins made a face and offered him her car keys, asking if he would prefer to wait down by the car.

It only took Alex a secondto decide; he held out his hands and, after a moment of intense staring, the professor handed him her keys in exchange for the backpack. He looked a little sheepish as he waved them goodbye and trotted down the side of the mountain.

"Looks like we're on our own," the professor said conversationally. Her voice was neutral, but Callie could detect a slight nervous undertone. "The Upper Falls are only a half mile away, but the path gets a little steeper." She gestured down the hill. "You're welcome to go with Alex if you want."

It almost sounded like a dismissal, but Callie hesitated, uncertain. "I'd love to see it," she replied casually, watching to see the professor's expression. Dr. Robbins glanced at her briefly, her eyes flicking up to meet Callie's.

The professor gave her a small grin, one that didn't quite reach her eyes. "Good!"

It took a little over ten minutes for them to reach the Upper Falls. By that point Callie was breathing heavily; the professor had been right about the path. As soon as they split from the main road leading down to the parking lot, the trail increased dramatically. The recent storm had kicked up the loose dirt, and puddles of mud took up the majority of the trail. They had skirted the outer edges, where the earth was the firmest, but even still their shoes were caked with drying mud. The professor had kept up a breakneck pace, avoiding conversation entirely except to point out where to step.

The Upper Falls were drastically smaller than the waterfall below, but pretty nonetheless. There was a vantage point on the upper rim of the falls, and Callie watched as the water cascaded into the river below. She'd never been on this side of a waterfall, and the difference in view was fascinating. She was so enthralled she almost didn't hear the professor calling her name.

She glanced about, looking for Dr. Robbins. She was several feet away, further back by the river. She gestured for Callie to come closer. "I would be careful standing so close to the falls," the professor warned when she was in earshot. Callie blushed and fought back the urge to assure the professor that she was being careful. "Look at this," Dr. Robbins pointed into the water.

Callie glanced down. There was a shimmering object in the water. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was a beer can. "Why would somebody do that?" she asked, turning back.

Dr. Robbins shrugged, looking frustrated. "Your guess is as good as mine. I don't think I'll ever understand why people can be so careless." Callie didn't know what to say, so she nodded. The professor studied her for a moment, then checked her watch. When she spoke again, her voice was softer, hopeful. "We still have time to see Barney's Wall if you're interested."

Callie didn't hesitate. "Of course. Are you done here?"

The professor nodded. "I've seen more than enough here." Callie cast one last glance toward the trash in the water; despite the negative connotation she felt toward the pollution, the sunlight was catching it in just the right way for it to reflect off the water and make a beautiful image. By the time Callie looked away, the professor was already headed toward the path that lead away from the Upper Falls. Callie let out a huff and picked up her pace, attempting to catch up to Dr. Robbins.

Dr. Robbins led them back the way they had come, and for a few minutes Callie thought that the professor had changed her mind and wanted to get back to Alex. Just when she had built up the courage to ask, she spotted the sign for Barney's Wall in the distance. It was hidden by the undergrowth, and if she hadn't been directly facing it, she would have completely missed it.

From the way Dr. Robbins had talked about the trail before, Callie half expected it to be even more difficult than the path from the Cascades to the Upper Falls. She was pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't any more difficult, just a little longer. This time around, she was grateful that she had to focus on her breathing. She wasn't sure what else she could discuss with the professor. While she didn't necessarily like Alex, she realized that he was definitely a good buffer to have; without him there, their hiking felt a lot more intimate, something two friends would do, not a professor and her student.

Despite how popular the lower trail was, the path to Barney's Wall was deserted. Overgrown grass and wildflowers tickled Callie's shins, and she barely suppressed the urge to stop and check herself for ticks. The mere thought of them made her skin crawl. As the elevation increased, the plants slowly receded from the path and the roaring falls grew to a faint murmur. At first Callie didn't notice; the trail was narrower than the previous two had been, so it was only natural that the plants brush against her legs. It was only when the tickling sensation stopped that she realized just how little undergrowth was present higher up on the trail. As she glanced around, she noticed the deciduous trees had given way to coniferous pines and bushes.

Birds sang all around them, echoing their melody back and forth in the treetops. For a while it was all Callie could hear, aside from her labored breathing. But soon another sound was introduced; for a second Callie thought that the path had looped them back around to the Upper Falls, but she soon realized that this water sounded different, more like a babbling brook than a thunderous waterfall.

It took a few minutes for the water to come into sight. It was a medium sized stream, and deep enough for Callie to wonder how they would get across it without getting their feet wet. She looked toward the professor for guidance, knowing that Dr. Robbins had gone to Barney's Wall before. Much to her relief, the professor looked unperturbed, and as they drew closer, Callie understood why.

There were stones placed intermittently across the river, close enough for a person to jump from one to the other without too much of a struggle. The recent rain meant that the water level was higher than normal—the stones dipped further into the river than Callie would have preferred—but they still would allow the two to get across without physically wading through the water.

Dr. Robbins paused at the bank of the water, watching the stream carefully as she planned just where she would place her feet. Callie followed suit, studying the rocks. A few of them were almost entirely covered by the water, which meant that they had the potential to be slippery; she would have to be extra cautious.

"I'll go first," the professor offered, the first words she'd spoken since they'd left the Upper Falls. Callie nodded, stepping back to allow the woman to cross in front of her. When Dr. Robbins leapt to the third stone in, Callie stepped onto the first.

While she had expected each stone to be a little slippery, she had severely underestimated just how dangerous it was. Her foot slid on the second stone, and for a moment she thought she would fall into the water. She caught herself in the nick of time. Her heart raced in her chest as she realized just how close she had come to potentially hurting herself. She stepped to the next one, this time keeping her weight grounded on her back foot. When she was certain the next stone was stable, she brought her leg forward.

She was so focused on herself that she forgot to look out for Dr. Robbins. It wasn't until she heard a splash and a yelp of surprise from the professor that she looked up, her brow furrowed in concern. The woman was standing knee deep in the water, a shocked expression on her face. Callie opened her mouth to ask if Dr. Robbins was all right, but the professor beat her to it, saying, "I'm fine." Her face flushed a bright red, and Callie couldn't help but let out a chuckle at the absurdity of it all. Much to her surprise, the professor joined in.

"I'm sorry," Callie murmured, pressing a hand to her mouth to stifle her laughter. "It shouldn't be funny, but it is." The professor just shrugged at her, nonchalantly wading to the edge of the stream and stepping out. She wiggled her feet, and Callie watched as water oozed from her sneakers.

"That water is cold!" Dr. Robbins rubbed at her legs, and Callie saw that they were turning a bright pink to match her cheeks. Callie's laughter died down immediately, and she scrambled across the rest of the rocks, eager to get to the professor.

Unable to help herself, Callie asked, "Are you okay?" She couldn't keep the worry out of her voice.

Dr. Robbins nodded and stood back up, squaring her shoulders. "I'm great." She drew a breath, then another. "Are you ready to keep going?"

As they started back on the trail, Callie lapsed into silence, fully expecting the professor to do the same. But Dr. Robbins surprised her, slowing down their breakneck pace to a comfortable walk. She cleared her throat, and Callie realized that the professor intended to carry on their conversation. "What are you planning to do after college?" Callie was quiet for a moment, trying to think of an intelligent-sounding answer, but the professor misconstrued her contemplationfor frustration. "I'm sorry," she murmured, "you probably get asked that a lot, don't you?"

"I guess so, yeah. I feel like you're not officially a college student until everybody you know asks you what you plan to do with your degree." She hadn't meant for her words to come out as bitter as they had, but now that they were out she found she didn't regret them. Dr. Robbins was quiet, so Callie added, "I'm a junior, so I'm supposed to know what I want, but to be honest I'm not really sure. I mean, I like what we're learning, but I don't know how any of it translates into a job."

"There's always the Science Writing graduate program," Dr. Robbins said, her voice teasing. "We're constantly on the lookout for good students."

"But how do you know I'm a good student?" Callie asked, curiosity getting the better of her. They were only now going into the second week of school; Dr. Robbins hadn't given them any assignments, so Callie hadn't even turned in something concrete for the professor to base her opinion on. At this point it was all pure speculation on the professor's part.

Dr. Robbins laughed, and for a moment Callie thought that perhaps she had missed something. But then the professor said, "Contrary to popular belief, professors don't just teach classes and do research. On occasion, we also talk about our students. I know more about some of you than I ever wanted to." She shook her head as if to clear away any negative mental images that statement brought up. "But I've heard nothing but wonderful things about you."

Callie flushed immediately and then coughed to hide her embarrassment. "What have you heard?"

"Enough to know you'd be an amazing asset to the graduate program," Dr. Robbins said liltingly. Callie rolled her eyes good-naturedly. She was quickly learning that the professor never gave away anything she didn't want to.

"I don't even know if I like science writing," Callie admitted. "I mean, it seems like an interesting topic, but I don't know if it's right for me. I still don't even know much about it. How am I supposed to know what's right for me when I don't even know what I want?"

"You'll know more about science writing soon enough," the professor promised. "But you're right. It's unfair to ask anyone to decide what they want when they're so young. I think it's ridiculous that we expect eighteen-year-olds to know what they want to be when they grow up." Callie opened her mouth to protest that she wasn't eighteen, but the professor continued, lost in her rant. "We place this gigantic burden on these miniature adults—children still, really—to decide just how they want to spend the rest of their lives."

The professor was quiet for a moment, so Callie added, "College just makes it worse. People assume that because you picked a field of study you know exactly what job you want once you graduate."

"You don't need to have a plan ironed out, Callie. It's okay not to know what you want. In fact, it would be crazy if you did know exactly what you wanted. You don't have to follow the mold. If you want a job once you get your degree, go for it." The professor gave a nonchalant shrug. "If you want to attend graduate school, that's great, too. But whatever you do, make sure there are no regrets."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know," the professor said slowly, "it's hard to explain." She drew a deep breath. "I always wish I had waited to go to grad school. There were so many things I wanted to do, but I was so focused on writing my thesis and pursing a doctorate that I completely forgot about the bigger picture."

Callie let the words sink in, allowing herself to look away from the professor and focus on the scenery around them. She'd been so caught up in the conversation that she hadn't realized just how high they had climbed. They must have been close; she could see the land flattening out and blue sky filtering in straight ahead of them. Dr. Robbins must have noticed the change, too, because her pace sped up again, and Callie fought to keep close.

They rounded a curve and Callie saw the sharp decline, followed by a huge rock and then nothing but mountains for miles. She followed Dr. Robbins down the hill and onto the rock, but stopped when she got to the center of it. The professor was a little more daring, edging to the side of it and peering out at the expanse of land.

"It's beautiful," Callie murmured, trying to take it all in.

"Are you afraid of heights?"

Callie shook her head, not certain how her question related to their current topic of conversation.

"Good! Then come here. You'll want to see this." Dr. Robbins gestured for her to come closer. "Lay on your stomach, like this." The professor got to the ground and shimmied to the edge of the rock, peering over the side. She must have sensed Callie's hesitation, because she gave Callie a gentle smile and patted the ground next to her. "You won't fall," she promised. "If you don't feel safe, you can stand back up, but you at least have to see it once."

Callie followed her lead, getting onto her stomach and pulling herself forward until her head was over the side of the cliff. She bit back a gasp as she realized just how high up they were. Birds of prey circling far below them, black dots in a sea of green treetops. One dove into the canopy and disappeared from sight completely. Callie waited for it to reappear, but when it didn't she moved on to the next circling bird, watching it with a keen fascination; she'd never seen a bird in flight from this angle.

The professor gave her time to study the land below them without saying a word. Instead, she shifted by Callie's side, finding a more comfortable position on the hard rock. She unintentionally drew closer to Callie, her arm brushing against Callie's as she moved it under her chin.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Dr. Robbins asked after a while. Callie hazarded a glance at the woman and realized just how close they were. If she moved even an inch their bodies would press together; the professor's face was a mere few inches from her own, her bright, blue eyes focused on Callie, watching her with a delighted expression.

Callie swallowed hard and nodded. "Amazing," she parroted, then realized that Dr. Robbins was probably expecting a more intelligent response. "I've never seen anything like it before. Thank you for letting me come with you today. You didn't have to do that." Her second attempt at a response wasn't much better, but at least she wasn't just repeating what the professor said. The woman continued to look at her, but her delight morphed into something Callie couldn't quite decipher—happy and sad, all at once. Callie drew in a breath of the fresh mountain air and tried to figure out just what Dr. Robbins could be sad about.

"I'm glad you came," the professor murmured, her voice so quiet that Callie had to lean closer to hear. The woman's brow furrowed, and Callie realized that perhaps Dr. Robbins hadn't intended to say that out loud. She cleared her throat and a faint blush rose to her cheeks. "We really should be going," she intoned. The professor started to stand, but Callie's question stopped her.

"What about you? What are your plans for the future? Aside from writing your book, of course."

Dr. Robbins gave her a dry look and for a moment Callie thought that her plan hadn't worked, but then the professor was settling down next to get again, her eyes never leaving Callie's. "What I say remains between us, understood?" Dr. Robbins squinted at her, as if gauging her level of trustworthiness. Callie couldn't nod fast enough. "One of our tenured professors is retiring in the spring, and I'm being considered for the job." She gestured to the open air around them. "That's why I need to write my book."

"I'm sure you'll get the job," Callie said, a surprising amount of conviction in her voice.

Dr. Robbins grinned at her. "You know this for a fact, do you?"

"Well, I…"

And just like that, the moment was gone; Dr. Robbins was pulling back and jumping to her feet. "Are you ready to head back? I'm sure Alex is ready to go." Callie thought about protesting the sudden change in topic, but then the professor was holding out a hand to help her up and all Callie could think about was how warm the hand felt in her own.


End file.
